LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 
PRINCETON,  N.  J. 

Purchased  by  the 
Mary  Cheves  Dulles  Fund 

DT83 
.3T8 


\ 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Digitized  by 

the  Internet  Archive 

in  2015 

https://archive.org/details/historyofegyptfrOObrea_0 


THE    COLONNADED    HALL   OF   THE  TEMPLE   OF  ESNEH. 

The  temple  is  of  the  Grseco-Roman  age,  but  this  colonnade  is  a  fine  example  of  the  later  rich  and  ornate  plant-columns, 
which  owe  their  origin  to  the  earlier  architects  of  the  Saitic  age. 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


FROM  THE  EARLIEST  TIMES  TO  THE 
PERSIAN  CONQUEST 


PS- 
JAMES  HENRY  BREASTED,  Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  EGYPTOLOGY  AND  ORIENTAL  HISTORY  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  Q> 
CHICAGO  ;  DIRECTOR  OF  HASKELL  ORIENTAL  MUSEUM  J  CORRESPONDING 
MEMBER  OF  THE  ROYAL  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES  OF  BERLIN 


WITH  TWO  HUNDRED  ILLUSTRATIONS  AND  MAPS 
SECOND  EDITION  FULLY  REVISED 


NEW  YORK 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S 
1912 


SONS 


Copyright,  1905,  1909,  by 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


Published  October,  1905 
New  Edition  January,  1909 
Reprinted  March,  1910;  June,  1911;  June,  1912; 
March    1916;    September,  1919;   June,  1921. 
March,  1923;  January,  October,  1924;  May,  1926; 
January,  1928;  September,  1929;  February,  1931. 


TO 

MY  MOTHER 


PREFACE 


The  ever  increasing  number  of  those  who  visit  the 
Nile  Valley  with  every  recurring  winter  should  alone 
form,  it  would  seem,  a  sufficiently  numerous  public  to 
call  for  the  production  of  a  modern  history  of  Egypt. 
Besides  these  fortunate  travellers,  however,  there  is 
another  growing  circle  of  those  who  are  beginning  to 
realize  the  significance  of  the  early  East  in  the  history 
of  man.  As  the  Nile  poured  its  life-giving  waters  into 
the  broad  bosom  of  the  Mediterranean,  so  from  the 
civilization  of  the  wonderful  people  who  so  early  emerged 
from  barbarism  on  the  Nile  shores,  there  emanated  and 
found  their  way  to  southern  Europe  rich  and  diversified 
influences  of  culture  to  which  we  of  the  western  world 
are  still  indebted.  Had  the  Euphrates  flowed  into  the 
Mediterranean  likewise,  our  debt  to  Babylon  would  have 
been  correspondingly  as  great  as  that  which  we  owe  the 
Nile  Valley.  It  is  to  Egypt  that  we  must  look  as  the 
dominant  power  in  the  Mediterranean  basin,  whether 
by  force  of  arms  or  by  sheer  weight  of  superior  civiliza- 
tion throughout  the  earliest  career  of  man  in  southern 
Europe,  and  for  long  after  the  archaic  age  had  been 
superseded  by  higher  culture.  To  us  who  are  in  civiliza- 
tion the  children  of  early  Europe,  it  is  of  vital  interest 
to  raise  the  curtain  and  peer  beyond  into  the  ages  which 
bequeathed  our  forefathers  so  precious  a  legacy.  Finally, 


viii 


PREFACE 


there  is  a  third  and  possibly  the  most  numerous  class 
of  those  who  desire  an  acquaintance  with  the  history  of 
Egypt*  viz.,  the  students  of  the  Old  Testament.  All  of 
these  readers  have  been  remembered  in  the  composition 
of  this  book. 

The  plan  adopted  in  the  production  of  this  history 
is  one  which  will  in  some  measure  also  condition  its 
use.  The  sources  from  which  our  knowledge  of  the  early 
career  of  the  Nile  Valley  peoples  is  drawn  are  of  the 
meagerest  extent,  and  most  inadequate  in  character. 
They  will  be  found  further  discussed  herein  (pp.  23  f.), 
and  in  the  author's  Ancient  Records  of  Egypt,  Vol.  I, 
pp.  3-22.  As  used  at  the  present  day,  in  the  historical 
workshop  of  the  scholar,  they  are  accessible  chiefly  in 
published  form.  These  publications  were  in  the  vast 
majority  of  cases  edited  before  the  attainment  of  such 
epigraphic  accuracy  and  care  as  are  now  deemed  in- 
dispensable in  the  production  of  such  work.1  To  copy 
an  inscription  of  any  kind  with  accuracy  is  not  easy. 
So  close  and  fine  an  observer  of  material  documents  as 
Ruskin  could  copy  a  short  Latin  inscription  with  sur- 
prising inaccuracy.  In  his  incomparable  Mornings  in 
Florence  he  reproduces  the  brief  inscription  on  the  marble 
slab  covering  the  tomb  which  he  so  admired  in  the 
church  of  Santa  Croce;  and  in  his  copy  of  these  eight 
short  lines,  which  I  compared  with  the  original,  he  mis- 
spells on^word,  and  omits  two  entire  words  ("  etmagister") 
of  the  mediaeval  Latin.  This  experience  of  the  great 
art  critic  is  not  infrequently  that  of  the  schooled  and 
careful  paleographer  as  well.    The  best  known  of  the 

1  The  remainder  of  this  paragraph  is  taken  from  the  author's  Ancient 
Records  of  Egypt,  Vol.  I,  §§  27-8, 


PREFACE 


ix 


Politarch  inscriptions  appeared  in  eight  different  publica- 
tions, each  of  which  diverges  in  some  more  or  less  im- 
portant respect  from  all  the  rest,  before  a  correct  copy 
was  obtained.  The  Greek  and  Latin  inscriptions  on  the 
bronze  crab  from  the  base  of  the  New  York  Obelisk 
were  long  incorrectly  read,  and  the  mistake  in  the  date 
led  Mommsen  to  a  false  theory  of  the  early  Roman 
prefects  of  Egypt.  In  the  early  days  of  Egyptology, 
when  a  reading  knowledge  of  hieroglyphic  was  still 
necessarily  elementary,  it  required  a  copyist  of  ex- 
ceptional ability  to  produce  a  copy  upon  which  much 
reliance  can  be  placed  at  the  present  day.  Had  the 
science  of  Egyptology  rapidly  outgrown  this  early  in- 
sufficiency, all  would  now  be  well;  but  such  methods 
have  continued  down  to  the  present  day,  and  although 
many  exhaustively  accurate  publications  of  hieroglyphic 
documents  now  appear  with  every  year,  it  is  neverthe- 
less true  that  the  large  majority  of  standard  Egyptian 
documents  accessible  in  publications  exhibit  a  degree 
of  incompleteness  and  inaccuracy  not,  in  the  author's 
judgment,  to  be  found  in  any  other  branch  of  epigraphic 
science. 

Under  these  circumstances  the  author's  first  obliga- 
tion has  been  to  go  behind  the  publications  to  the  original 
monument  itself  in  every  possible  instance.  This  task 
has  consumed  years  and  demanded  protracted  sojourn 
among  the  great  collections  of  Europe.  In  this  work 
a  related  enterprise  has  been  of  the  greatest  assistance. 
A  mission  to  the  museums  of  Europe  to  collect  their 
Egyptian  monuments  for  a  Commission  of  the  four 
Royal  Academies  of  Germany  (Berlin,  Leipzig,  Goettingen, 
and  Munich),  in  order  to  make  these  documents  available 


X 


PREFACE 


for  a  great  Egyptian  Dictionary  endowed  by  the  German 
Emperor,  enabled  the  author  to  copy  from  the  originals 
practically  all  the  historical  monuments  of  Egypt  in 
Europe.  For  those  still  in  Egypt,  the  author  has  been 
able  to  employ  his  own  copies  of  many,  especially  at 
Thebes  and  Amarna,  where  he  copied  all  the  historical 
inscriptions  in  the  tombs  there;  and  in  the  museum  at 
Gizeh  (now  Cairo).  Of  monuments  in  Egypt  not  in- 
cluded in  the  author's  copies,  squeezes  were  in  most 
instances  found  in  the  enormous  collection  made  by 
Lepsius  and  now  in  the  Berlin  Museum.  For  others  the 
author  was  given  access  to  the  extensive  collations 
made  for  the  Dictionary  above  referred  to;  now  and 
then  a  colleague  furnished  the  necessary  collation;  and 
where  all  other  sources  failed,  I  was  able  in  all  important 
cases  to  secure  large-scale  photographs  of  the  originals. 
The  final  remainder  of  monuments  for  which  the  author 
was  dependent  upon  the  publications  alone  is  very  small, 
and  in  most  cases  the  publication  was  one  made  on 
modern  methods,  and  almost  as  good  as  the  original 
itself.  In  general,  therefore,  it  may  be  fairly  claimed 
that  this  account  of  the  historical  career  of  the  Egyptians 
rests  upon  the  surviving  original  records  themselves. 

The  immense  progress  in  our  knowledge  of  the 
language  achieved  during  the  last  twenty  years  cannot 
be  said  to  have  been  applied  as  yet  to  the  comprehensive 
study  of  the  historical  documents  as  a  whole.  Hence, 
in  order  to  utilize  historically  the  materials  thus  collected, 
it  was  essential,  in  the  light  of  our  improved  philological 
equipment,  to  begin  the  study  of  the  documents  ab  ovo, 
irrespective  of  earlier  studies  and  results,  and  it  was  in 
almost  all  cases  only  after  such  unbiased  study  that 


PREFACE 


xi 


any  older  translation  or  account  of  a  document  was 
consulted.  The  combined  results  of  the  revised  copies 
from  the  originals  and  the  new  grammatical  study  of 
the  documents  have  been  embodied  in  a  series  of  trans- 
lations of  the  historical  documents,  arranged  in  chrono- 
logical order,  beginning  with  the  earliest  surviving 
records  and  continuing  to  the  final  loss  of  Egyptian 
national  independence  at  the  conquest  by  the  Persians 
in  525  B.C.  Supplied  with  historical  introductions  and 
explanatory  notes,  the  original  documents,  otherwise 
scattered  through  hundreds  on  hundreds  of  inaccessible 
publications,  are  thus  accessible  in  English  to  the  reader 
who  desires  to  know  upon  what  documentary  evidence  a 
particular  assertion  of  fact  rests.  The  numerals  I,  II, 
III,  and  IV  in  the  foot-notes  in  this  history  refer  to  the 
volumes  of  these  translations,1  and  the  Arabic  numerals 
following  the  four  Romans  designate  the  numbered 
paragraphs  into  which  the  translations  are  divided, 
unless  the  "p.,"  indicating  "page,"  is  inserted  between. 

It  is  hoped  that,  by  this  means  of  keeping  all  technical 
discussion  of  sources  in  the  four  volumes  of  translated 
documents,  the  author  has  succeeded  in  unburdening 
this  history  of  the  workshop  debris,  which  would  other- 
wise often  encumber  it;  while  at  the  same  time  the 
advantage  of  close  contact  with  the  sources  for  every 
fact  adduced  is  not  sacrificed.  For  the  average  reader,  a 
running  fire  of  foot-note  references  to  technical  and 
out-of-the-way  publications,  known  only  to  the  inner 

1  See  Ancient  Records  of  Egypt:  The  Historical  Documents,  by  James 
Henry  Breasted,  University  of  Chicago  Press,  Chicago,  1905.  Volume  I, 
The  First  to  the  Seventeenth  Dynasties.  Volume  II,  The  Eighteenth  Dynasty. 
Volume  III,  The  Nineteenth  Dynasty.  Volume  IV,  The  Twentieth  to  the 
Twenty-sixth  Dynasties.    Volume  V,  Indices 


xii 


PEEFACE 


circle  of  initiates  in  the  science  of  Egyptology,  would 
mean  absolutely  nothing.  On  the  other  hand,  the  other 
extreme,  of  divorcing  the  statements  in  this  book  from 
all  connection  with  the  sources  from  which  they  are 
drawn;  is,  in  the  author's  opinion,  almost  as  bad;  even 
though  but  a  vanishing  proportion  of  its  readers  ever 
should  turn  to  verify  the  references  adduced.  To  that 
small  number  such  references  are  invaluable,  for  the 
author  recalls  with  what  difficulty  in  his  student  days  he 
was  able  to  trace  the  currently  accepted  facts  of  the  sci- 
ence to  the  original  sources  from  which  they  had  come. 
If  these  studies  shall  be  considered  to  have  made  any 
contribution  to  modern  knowledge  in  this  field,  it  will  be 
in  the  reexamination  of  the  originals,  the  collection  and 
focussing  of  all  related  materials  with  each  document, 
and  the  assembly  and  translation  of  these  materials 
complete  in  convenient  form  for  reference.  Any  new 
results  in  this  volume  are  due  to  this  process  and  method. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  the  immense  field  of  material 
documents  as  contrasted  with  written  documents,  this 
work  has  made  no  attempt  at  a  reexamination  of  the  vast 
sources  available.  Egyptian  archeology  is  in  its  infancy, 
and  but  few  of  the  fundamental  studies  and  researches 
already  completed  in  classical  archaeology  have  been 
made  in  this  province.  Now  and  again  the  written 
documents  have  thrown  new  and  unexpected  light  in 
this  direction  which  I  have  not  failed  to  utilize.  The 
man  with  the  enviable  combination  of  archaeological 
and  philological  capacity  would  find  a  rich  field  to 
cultivate,  in  working  for  the  production  of  an  Egypto- 
logical Overbeck.  Again  in  the  realm  of  religion  the 
mere  quantity  alone  of  the  materials  made  any  attempt 


PREFACE 


xiii 


at  an  exhaustive  reexamination  of  the  documents  im- 
possible. The  study  of  Egyptian  religion  has  but  begun, 
and  decades  will  pass  before  even  the  preliminary  special 
studies  shall  have  been  completed,  which  shall  enable 
the  student  to  go  forward  for  a  general  survey  and 
symmetrical  reconstruction  of  the  phenomena  in  one 
comprehensive  presentation,  which  shall  be  in  some 
measure  final.  Only  the  Amarna  period  and  the  solar 
faith  have  been  made  the  object  of  the  author's  special 
attention.  All  the  documents  on  the  unparalleled  religious 
revolution  of  Ikhnaton,  and  all  the  known  hymns  to  the 
Sun,  throughout  Egyptian  history,  were  collected  and 
examined — in  the  case  of  the  former  from  the  originals. 
For  Egyptian  religion  as  a  whole,  however,  the  author 
would  acknowledge  deep  obligation  to  Erman's  admirable 
Handbuch,  an  obligation  often  indicated  in  the  foot-notes, 
and  elsewhere  frequently  evident  to  the  technical  reader. 
Although  over  twenty  years  old,  Erman's  Aegypten  is 
still  the  standard  vade  mecum  on  Egyptian  life.  It  has 
often  been  of  invaluable  service  in  the  production  of  this 
work.  To  Eduard  Meyer's  exhaustive  and  final  Chron- 
ologie  I  am,  of  course,  indebted,  especially  in  the  earlier 
period.  I  would  also  gratefully  acknowledge  the  clarify- 
ing influence  of  his  incisive  treatment  of  the  Saitic  age 
in  his  Geschichte  des  alten  Aegyptens.  To  the  colossal 
labors  of  Maspero  and  Wiedemann  I  have  been  indebted, 
especially  in  the  bibliography,  as  indicated  in  the  Preface 
to  my  Ancient  Records,  but  I  would  gratefully  indicate 
the  obligation  here  also.  Like  all  who  work  in  Egyp- 
tian  history,  I  also  owe  a  debt  to  Winckler's  invaluable 
version  of  the  Amarna  Letters. 

For  the  illustrative  materials,  besides  the  published 


xiv 


PREFACE 


plates,  frequently  severally  indicated,  and  his  own 
photographs,  the  author  would  express  his  thanks  to 
many  friends  and  colleagues  to  whom  he  is  indebted  for 
photographs,  drawings,  or  restorations.  He  is  particu- 
larly indebted  to  his  friend  Schaefer,  of  Berlin;  also  to 
Borchardt,  Steindorff,  Petrie,  Zahn,  Messerschmidt, 
Rev.  W.  MacGregor  of  Tamworth,  and  Dr.  Caroline 
Ransom,  for  the  unqualified  use  of  photographs  and 
reconstructions.  To  Messrs.  Underwood  &  Underwood 
for  permission  to  use  a  number  of  their  superb  stereo- 
graphs of  Egyptian  monuments  in  situ,  I  desire  to  express 
particular  obligation.  At  the  same  time,  may  I  add  for 
the  benefit  of  those  to  whom  a  journey  through  the  Nile 
Valley  is  an  impossibility,  that  the  system  of  travel 
represented  in  these  beautiful  stereographs  makes  possible 
to  every  one  a  voyage  up  the  Nile  which  falls  little  short 
of  the  actual  experience  itself.  Finally,  I  am  not  a  little 
indebted  to  the  great  kindness  of  Mr.  John  Ward,  of 
Lenoxvale,  Belfast,  for  a  magnificent  series  of  photographs 
made  specially  for  him,  of  recent  excavations  at  Karnak, 
from  which  I  was  privileged  to  select  a  number,  like  the 
avenue  of  rams  (Fig.  129). 

To  Herr  Karl  Baedeker,  of  Leipzig,  I  owe  the  privilege 
of  inserting  two  maps  (Nos.  6  and  11)  from  his  un- 
equalled guide-book  of  Egypt,  deservedly  the  inseparable 
companion  of  all  tourists  on  the  Nile.  To  the  authorities 
of  the  European  museums  at  Berlin,  London  (British 
Museum,  University  College,  Petrie  Collections),  Paris 
(Louvre,  Bibliotheque  Nationale,  Musee  Guimet),  Vienna 
(Hof  museum),  Ley  den,  Munich,  Rome  (Vatican  and 
Capitoline),  Florence,  Bologna,  Naples,  Turin,  Pisa, 
Geneva,  Lyons,  Liverpool,  and  some  others,  I  would  here 


PREFACE 


express  deep  appreciation  of  the  courtesies  and  privileges 
uniformly  extended  to  me  during  the  prosecution  of  this 
work  among  them.  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  R.  S  Padan 
and  Miss  Imogen  Hart  for  assistance  in  proofreading. 
My  wife  has  constantly  rendered  me  indispensable  cleri- 
cal aid,  and  never-failing  assistance  in  reading  of  proof. 

It  is  a  great  pleasure  here  also  gratefully  to  recognize 
the  cooperation  and  unfailing  readiness  of  the  publishers 
to  do  all  in  their  power  to  make  the  typographical  and 
illustrative  side  of  the  work  all  that  it  should  be.  Of 
this  the  appearance  of  the  finished  volume  is  ample 
evidence. 

James  Henry  Breasted. 

Williams  Bay,  Wisconsin, 
September  1,  1905. 


CONTENTS 


BOOK  ONE 

INTRODUCTION 

jHAPTER  page 

I.    The  Land   3 

II.    Preliminary   Survey,   Chronology   and  Docu- 
mentary Sources  13 

III.    Earliest  Egypt  25 

BOOK  TWO 
THE  OLD  KINGDOM 

TV.    Early  Religion  53 

V.    The  Old  Kingdom:  Government  and  Society, 

Industry  and  Art  74 

VI.  The  Pyramid  Builders  Ill 

VII.  The  Sixth  Dynasty:  The  Decline  of  the  Old 

Kingdom  131 


BOOK  THREE 

THE  MIDDLE  KINGDOM:  THE  FEUDAL  AGE 

VIII.    The  Decline  of  the  North  and  the  Rise  of 

Thebes      .      .  147 

IX.    The  Middle  Kingdom,  the  Feudal  Age:  State, 

Society  and  Religion  157 

X.    The  Twelfth  Dynasty  177 


xviii 


CONTENTS 


BOOK  FOUR 


THE  HYKSOS:  THE  RISE  OF  THE  EMPIRE 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XI.    The  Fall  of  the  Middle  Kingdom  :  The  Hyksos  .  211 

XII.    The  Expulsion  of  the  Hyksos  and  the  Triumph 

of  Thebes  223 


BOOK  FIVE 

THE  EMPIRE:  FIRST  PERIOD 

XIII.  The  New  State:  Society  and  Religion    .      .  233 

XIV.  The  Consolidation  of  the  Kingdom:  The  Rise 


of  the  Empire  253 

XV.    The  Feud  of  the  Thutmosids  and  the  Reign 

of  Hatshepsut  266 

XVI.    The  Consolidation  of  the  Empire:  Thutmose 

III  284 

XVII.   The  Empire  322 

XVIII.    The  Religious  Revolution  of  Ikhnaton  .      .  355 

XIX.    The  Fall  of  Ikhnaton  and  the  Dissolution  of 

the  Empire  379 

BOOK  SIX 

THE  EMPIRE  :  SECOND  PERIOD 

XX.    The  Triumph  of  Amon  and  the  Reorganization 

of  the  Empire  399 

XXI.    The  Wars  of  Ramses  II  423 

XXII.    The  Empire  of  Ramses  II     .      .      .      .  .442 

XXIII.    The  Final  Decline  of  the  Empire:  Merneptah 

and  Ramses  III  .      .  -  464 


CONTENTS  xix 
BOOK  SEVEN 

THE  DECADENCE 

CHAPTER  PA«H 

XXIV.    The  Fall  of  the  Empire  505 

XXV.    Priests  and  Mercenaries:  The  Supremacy  of 

the  Libyans  522 

XXVI.    The  Ethiopian  Supremacy  and  the  Triumph 

of  Assyria  537 

BOOK  EIGHT 

THE  RESTORATION  AND  THE  END 

XXVII.    The  Restoration  565 

XXVIII.    The  Final  Struggles:  Babylon  and  Persia  .  582 


Chronological  Table  of  Kings 
Index   


597 
603 


EXPLANATION  OF  FOOT-NOTES  AND  ABBREVIATIONS 


The  Roman  numerals  I,  II,  III,  IV  followed  by  Arabics  refer  to 
the  volumes  and  paragraphs  of  the  author's  Ancient  Records  of 
Egypt.    See  Preface,  p.  xi. 

BT  =  Brugsch,  Thesaurus. 

Rec.  =  Recueil  cle  Travaux,  edited  by  Maspero. 

RIH  =  de  Rouge,  Inscriptio?is  Meroglypliiques. 

All  other  abbreviations  are  sufficiently  full  to  bt  intelligible 
without  further  explanation. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


The  Colonnaded  Hall  of  the  Temple  of  Esneh  .  Frontispiece 

FIG.  PAGE 

1.  — One  of  the  Channels  of  the  First  Cataract    .      .  6 

2.  — The  Inundation  Seen  from  the  Road  to  the  Pyramids 

of  Gizeh  .6 

3.  — Looking  Across  the  Nile  to  the  Western  Cliffs 

near  Thebes  10 

4.  — The  Huts  and  Palm  Groves  of  Karnak,  Thebes    .  10 

5.  — The  Nile  Valley,  Viewed  Across  the  Modern  Town 

of  Edfu  14 

6.  — A  Triple  Shaduf   18 

7.  — The  Cliffs  of  the  Nile  Canon   18 

8.  — The  Earliest  Known  Painting   27 

9.  — Flint  Knife  of  the  Predynastic  Age    ....  29 

10.  — Predynastic  Pottery  with  Incised  Decoration     .  30 

11.  — Predynastic  Pottery  with  Painted  Designs  of  Boats, 

Animals,  Men  and  Women  30 

12.  — A  Predynastic  Grave   34 

13.  — Gold  Bar  Bearing  Menes'  Name   34 

14.  — Alabaster  Vessels  of  the  First  Dynasty.     .      .  34 

15.  — Chair  Legs,  Carved  Ivory,  Early  Dynasties  .      .  34 

16.  — Copper  Vessels,  First  Dynasty   34 

17.  — Four  Bracelets  on  Lady's  Arm,  First  Dynasty    .  36 

18.  — The  King  Breaks  Ground  for  a  New  Canal,  First 

Dynasty  36 


xxii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIO.  PAOK 

19.  — Magnificent  Carved  Ceremonial  Palette  of  Slate  36 

20.  — Portrait  Head  of  King  Khasekhem:  From  Two 

Different  Angles   38 

21.  — Statue  of  King  Khasekhem:  Head  in  Fig.  20  .  .38 

22.  — Brick-lined  Wooden  Floored  Tomb  Chamber  of 

King  Enezib   38 

23.  — Brick  Tomb  of  King  Usephais   42 

24.  — Sealed  Jars  of  Food  and  Drink   42 

25.  — Earliest  Stone  Structure  in  the  World      .      .  42 

26.  — Ivory  Tablet  of  King  Usephais   42 

27.  — Ebony  Tablet  of  Menes,  First  Dynasty,  Abydos, 

3400  b.c   43 

28.  — King  Semerkhet  (First  Dynasty)  Smites  the 

Beduin  of  Sinai     .      .      .      .      .      .      .  .43 

29.  — The  Palermo  Stone   46 

30.  — The  Celestial  Cow   55 

31.  — The  Goddess  of  the  Heavens   55 

32.  — The  Celestial  Barque  of  the  Sun-God     ...  57 

33.  — Restoration  of  a  Group  of  Old  Kingdom  "  Mast- 

abas/'  or  Masonry  Tombs   57 

34.  — Ground  Plan  of  a  "Mastaba"  or  Masonry  Tomb    .  68 

35.  — Restoration  of  the  Pyramids  of  Abusir  and  Con- 

nected Buildings   72 

36.  — Collection  of  Taxes  by  Treasury  Officials  .      .  79 

37.  — Villa  and  Garden  of  an  Egyptian  Noble  of  the 

Old  Kingdom   90 

38.  — A  Noble  of  the  Old  Kingdom  Hunting  Wild  Fowl 

with  the  Throw-Stick  from  a  Skiff  of  Reedc  in 

the  Papyrus  Marshes  .   91 

39.  — Agriculture  in  the  Old  Kingdom     ....  92 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


xxiii 


riO.  PAGE 

40.  — A  Herd  in  the  Old  Kingdom,  Fording  a  Canal     .  93 

41.  — Metalworkers'  Workshop  in  the  Old  Kingdom    .  94 

42.  — Shipbuilding  in  the  Old  Kingdom  .  .  95 

43.  — Workmen  Drilling  Out  Stone  Vessels,  Old  King- 

dom  96 

44.  — Papyrus  Harvest  in  the  Old  Kingdom     ...  97 

45.  — Two  Columns  from  an  Old  Kingdom  Legal  Docu- 

ment  98 

46.  — Scenes  at  an  Old  Kingdom  Market  ....  98 

47.  — Third  Dynasty  Arch   100 

48.  — Diorite  Statue  of  Khephren   100 

49.  — Limestone  Statue  of  Ranofer   100 

50.  — Limestone  Statue  of  Hemset   102 

51.  — Head  of  the  Wooden  Statue  of  the  Shekh  El- 

Beled  102 

52.  — Limestone  Statue  of  an  Old  Kingdom  Scribe      .  102 

53.  — Life-Size  Statue  of  Pepi  I,  with  Figure  of  His  Son; 

Both  of  Beaten  Copper  104 

54.  — Head  of  the  Copper  Statue  of  Pepi  I,  Showing 

Eyes  of  Inlaid  Rock  Crystal  104 

55.  — Painting  of  Geese*  from  an  Old  Kingdom  Tomb 

at  Medum  104 

56.  — Reliefs  from  the  Interior  of  an  Old  Kingdom 

Mastaba  Chapel,  Depicting  Herds  and  Flocks.  106 

57.  — Decorative  Head  of  Lion,  in  Granite    .      .      .  106 

58.  — Golden  Hawk  of  Hieraconpolis  106 

59.  — Wooden  Panel  of  Hesire  106 

60.  — Fifth  Dynasty  Columns.  Cluster  of  Papyrus  Stems 

and  Palm  Capital  106 


xxiv 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


FIG.  PAGE 

61.  — Elevation  of  Part  of  the  Colonnade  Surrounding 

the  Court  of  the  Pyramid  Temple  of  Nuserre, 
Fifth  Dynasty  108 

62.  — Brick  Mastaba  of  Zoser's  Reign  at  Bet  Khallaf  .  110 

63.  — The  " Terraced  Pyramid"  of  Zoser  at  Sakkara    .  11C 

64.  — Pyramid  Attributed  to  Snefru  at  Medum  .      .  .110 

65.  — Rock  Inscriptions  of  Amenemhet  III,  in  Wadi 

Maghara,  Sinai,  including  Snefru  among  the 
Local  Gods  .      .         .......  114 

66.  — Casing  Blocks  at  the  Base  of  the  Great  Pyramid. 

Joints  Otherwise  Undiscernable  Indicated  by 
Charcoal  Lines  114 

67.  — The  Great  Pyramid  of  Khufu  (Cheops)  at  Gizeh  .  116 

68.  — The  Pyramids  of  Gizeh  118 

69.  — A  Granite  Hall  in  the  Great  Monumental  Gate 

of  Khafre  118 

70.  — The  Great  Sphinx  of  Gizeh  122 

71.  — Restoration  of  the  Sun-Temple  of  Nuserre  at 

Abusir  124 

72.  — Relief  Scenes  from  the  Sun-Temple  of  Nuserre  at 

Abusir  125 

73.  — Ruined  Pyramid  of  Unis  (Fifth  Dynasty)  at  Sak- 

kara   :      .    - .      .      .      .  .  j>  r;    .  128 

74.  — Island  of  Elephantine,  the  Home  of  the  Lords  of 

the  Southern  Frontier  128 

75.  — Statue  of  an  Old  Empire  Dwarf  140 

76.  — Tomb  of  Harkhuf  at  Assuan  142 

77.  — Head  of  King  Mernere  142 

78.  — Western  Cliffs  of  Siut  142 

79.  — Offices  of  the  Nomarch  Knumhotep  at  Benihasan  158 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


xx\ 


PIO.  PAGE 

80.  — A  Colossus  of  Alabaster  about  Twenty-two  Feet 

High  Transported  on  a  Sledge  by  One  Hundred 
and  Seventy-two  Men  in  Four  Double  Lines  at 
the  Ropes  159 

81.  — A  Middle  Kingdom  Coffin  and  Mortuary  Furniture  170 

82.  — Mortuary  Boat  of  Sesostris  III  170 

83.  — Restoration  of  the  Fortress  of  Semneh  and  Kum- 

meh    185 

84.  — The  Nubian  Nile  from  the  Ruined  Moslem  Strong- 

hold on  the  Heights  of  Ibrim       ....  186 

85.  — Ruins  of  the  Middle  Kingdom  Mining  Settlement  at 

Sarbut  el-Khadem,  Sinai    .      .      .      .      .      ,  186 

86.  — View  Across  the  Birket  el-Kurun  in  the  North- 

western Fayum  192 

87.  — Obelisk  of  Sesostris  I  at  Heliopolis      .      .      .  192 

88.  — Wooden  Statue  of  Prince  Ewibre    ....  192 

89.  — Head  of  Amenemhet  III,  from  a  Sphinx  found  at 

Tanis  .      .      .      .  .  <   ;  ,      .      .  196 

90.  — Bust  of  a  Statue  of  Amenemhet  III       ...  196 

91.  — Brick  Pyramid  of  Sesostris  II,  at  Illahun    .      .  196 

92.  — Section  of  the  Burial  Chamber  in  the  Pyramid  of 

Hawara  199 

93.  — Looking  down  the  Axis  of  the  Temple  at  Tanis    .  202 

94.  — Capstone  of  the  Pyramid  of  Amenemhet  III,  at 

Dashur  202 

95.  — Three  of  the  Ten  Statues  of  Amenemhet  I,  Found 

at  His  Pyramid  of  Lisht  202 

96.  — The  Harper  Singing  to  the  Banqueters  .      .      .  208 

97.  — Diadem  of  a  Twelfth  Dynasty  Princess  Found  in 

Her  Tomb  at  Dashur  208 

98.  — Diadem  of  a  Twelfth  Dynasty  Princess,  Found  m 

Her  Tomb  at  Dashur  208 


xxvi  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIO.  PAGE 

99.  —  Excavation  of  Statue  of  Neferkhere-Sebekho- 

tep,  on  Island  of  Arko,  above  Third  Cataract  .  216 

100.  — Body  of  One  of  the  Sekenenres,  showing  Wound  in 

Skull  216 

101.  — Fragment  of  a  Sitting  Colossus  of  Khian,  in  Gran- 

ite  216 

102.  — Walled  City  of  El  Kab,  Seen  through  a  Tomb  Door 

in  the  Eastern  Cliffs  Flanking  the  Town       .  226 

103.  — Bronze  Weapons  of  Ahmose  I   226 

104.  — A  Body  of  Spearmen  of  the  Empire  ....  234 

105.  — A  Chariot  of  the  Empire   234 

106.  — "Ushebti"  or  Respondent  Statuettes     .      .      .  250 

107.  — Heart  Scarab  of  the  "First  of  the  Sacred  Women 

of  Amon,  Isimkheb"  250 

108.  — Part  of  the  Valley  of  the  Kings'  Tombs,  Thebes  .  250 

109.  — Ground  Plan  of  the  Tomb  of  Seti  I       ...  251 

110.  — Entrance  Gallery  of  the  Tomb  of  Ramses  V,  Thebes  260 

111.  — Sitting  Statue  of  Senmut,  the  Favourite  of  Hat- 

shepsut     .   260 

112.  — Scenes  from  the  Great  Series  of  Reliefs  in  the  Der 

el  Bahri  Temple  at  Thebes  275 

113.  — Northern  Colonnades  on  the  Middle  Terrace  of 

Hatshepsut's  Terraced  Temple  of  Der  el  Bahri, 
Thebes  280 

114.  — Obelisks  of  Hatshepsut  at  Karnak  ....  280 

115.  — View  Across  the  Amon-Oasis,  or  Siwa     .      .      .  294 

116.  — Obelisk  of  Thutmose  III   294 

117.  — Lists  of  Towns  in  Asia  Taken  by  Thutmose  III     .  294 

118.  — A  Pharaoh  of  the  Empire  Receiving  Asiatic  Envoys 

Bearing  Tribute    .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .  300 


ILLUSTRATIONS  xxvii 

FIG.  PAGE 

119.  — Asiatic  Prisoners  in  Egypt  under  the  Empire     .  308 

120.  — Head  of  Thutmose  III   326 

121.  — Head  of  Amenhotep  II,  Son  of  Thutmose  III  .      .  326 

122.  — Head  of  Thutmose  IV,  Son  of  Amenhotep  II  .  326 
123— Amarna  Letter,  No.  296    326 

124.  — Costumes  of  the  Empire  340 

125.  — The  Peripteral  Cella-Temple  341 

126.  — Perspective  and  Section  of  a  Typical  Pylon  Temple 

of  the  Empire  342 

127.  — Fragment  of  Carved  Stone  Vase  Found  in  Crete  .  342 

128.  — Amenhotep  Ill's  Court  of  Clustered  Papyrus  Bud 

Columns  342 

129.  — Avenue  of  Ram-Sphinxes  before  the  Great  Karnak 

Temple  346 

130.  — Columns  of  the  Nave  of  Amenhotep  Ill's  Unfin- 

ished Hall  350 

131.  — Colossal  Gritstone  Statues  of  Amenhotep  III  (Mem- 

non  Colossi)  354 

132.  — Part  of  a  Funeral  Procession  of  a  High  Priest  of 

Memphis  358 

133.  — Lion  from  Amenhotep  Ill's  Temple  at  Soleb    .      .  362 

134.  — A  Stool  of  the  Empire   362 

135.  — Front  of  the  State  Chariot  of  Thutmose  IV  .      .  362 

136.  — Royal  Portrait  of  the  Empire   366 

137.  — Portrait  of  Amenhotep,  Son  of  Hapi      .      .      .  366 

138.  — Ducks  Swimming  among  Lotus  Flowers    .      .      .  366 

139.  — Ikhnaton  and  His  Queen  Decorate  the  Priest  Eye 

and  His  Wife  368 

140.  — Great  Boundary  Stela  of  Amarna  370 

141.  — Ikhnaton  Receiving  Flowers  from  his  Queen     .  370 


xxviii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIG.  PASK 

142.  — Limestone  Torso  of  Ikhnaton's  Daughter     .      .  376 

143.  — Head  of  Ikhnaton  376 

144— Marsh  Life   376 

145.  — Hittite  Soldier  Armed  with  an  Axe  .      .  382 

146.  — Hittite  King  Bearing  Spear  and  Scepter      .      .  382 

147.  — Egyptian  Official  Receiving  Semitic  Immigrants  .  382 

148.  — Harmhab  as  an  Official  Rewarded  with  Gold  by 

the  King  .  .      .  .386 

149.  — Southern  Pylons  of  Harmhab  at  Karnak      .      .  390 

150.  — Harmhab  as  a  Peasant  in  the  Hereafter      .      .  390 

151.  — Bust  of  Khonsu  390 

152.  — Battle  Reliefs  of  Seti  I  at  Karnak      .      .      .  396 

153.  — Seti  I  Offering  an  Image  of  Truth  to  Osiris  .      .  402 

154.  — Seti  I  as  a  Youth  Offering  the  Image  of  Truth    .  406 

155.  — Cattle  Inspection  412 

156.  — Swamp  Hunting  in  a  Reed  Boat  418 

157.  — Section  of  One  of  Seti  Ps  Reliefs  at  Karnak     .  419 

158.  — Head  of  Seti  I  424 

159.  — Stel^e  of  Ramses  II  and  Esarhaddon  in  Phoenicia  .  424 

160.  — Scene  from  the  Reliefs  of  the  Battle  of  Kadesh  .  434 

161.  — Fragments  of  Thousand-ton  Colossus  of  Ramses  II  442 

162.  — Store  Chambers  at  Pithom  442 

163.  — Heavy-armed  Sherden  of  Ramses  IPs  Mercenary 

Bodyguard  448 

164.  — Restoration  of  the  Great  Hall  at  Karnak  .      .  448 

165.  — Nave  of  the  Great  Hall  of  Karnak      .      .      .  448 

166.  — The  Ramesseum,  Mortuary  Temple  of  Ramses  II  .  450 

167.  — The  Cliff  Temple  of  Abu  Simbel      ....  450 


ILLUSTRATIONS  xxix 

FIG.  PAGE 

168.  — Black  Granite  Statue  of  Ramses  II  .      .      .      .  450 

169.  — Battle  Scene  from  the  Great  Series  of  Reliefs  of 

Ramses  II  on  the  Walls  of  the  Ramesseum  .      .  452 

170.  — Head  of  Ramses  II   464 

171.  — Victorious  Hymn  of  Merneptah   464 

172.  — Peleset  or  Philistine  Prisoners  of  Ramses  III   .  464 

173.  — Naval  Victory  of  Ramses  III  over  Northern  Medi- 

terranean Peoples   480 

174.  — Ramses  Ill's  Medinet  Habu  Temple  ....  492 

175.  — Ramses  Ill's  Medinet  Habu  Temple  ....  492 

176.  — Ramses  III  Hunting  the  Wild  Bull  ....  492 

177.  — The  High  Priest  of  Amon  Amenhotep  Decorated  by 

Ramses  IX   510 

178.  — Scribe's  Notes  on  Coffin  of  Seti  I   .  510 

179.  — The  Der  el  Bahri  Hiding-place   510 

180.  — "  The  Field  of  Abram"   536 

181.  — Senjirli  Stela  of  Esarhaddon   536 

182.  — Serapeum  Stela  of  Psamtik  I   536 

183.  — General  View  of  Karnak  from  the  South    .      .  560 

184.  — Alabaster  Statue  of  Amenardis,  Sister  of  Piankhi  576 

185.  — Bronz  Ibex  from  the  Prow  of  a  Ship     .      .      .  590 

186.  — Portrait  Head  of  the  Saite  Age      ....  590 


MAPS 


U  PAGE 

1.  —The  Town  of  Illahun,  Showing  the  Crowded  Quar- 

ters of  the  Poor  87 

2.  — The  Fourth  Dynasty  Cemetery  at  Gizeh  .  .  .  122 
3  The  Fayum  192 

4.  — The  Carmel  Ridge,  Showing  Megiddo  ....  286 

5.  — The  Modern  Tell-Nebi-Mindoh,  Ancient  Kadesh  .  300 

6.  — Thebes  348 

7.  — The  Asiatic  Empire  of  Egypt  384 

8.  — The  Vicinity  of  Kadesh  426 

9.  — The  Battle  of  Kadesh  428 

10.  — The  Battle  of  Kadesh  430 

11.  — Plan  of  the  Karnak  Temples  444 

12.  — Egypt  and  the  Ancient  World  476 


13. — General  Map  of  Egypt  and  Nubia      .   At  end  of  Volume 


BOOK  I 
INTRODUCTION 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  LAND 

The  roots  of  modern  civilization  are  planted  deeply  in 
the  highly  elaborate  life  of  those  nations  which  rose  into 
power  over  six  thousand  years  ago,  in  the  basin  of  the  eastern 
Mediterranean,  and  the  adjacent  regions  on  the  east  of  it. 
Had  the  Euphrates  finally  found  its  way  into  the  Mediter- 
ranean, toward  which,  indeed,  it  seems  to  have  started,  both 
the  early  civilizations,  to  which  we  refer,  might  then  have 
been  included  in  the  Mediterranean  basin.  As  it  is,  the  scene 
of  early  oriental  history  does  not  fall  entirely  within  that 
basin,  but  must  be  designated  as  the  eastern  Mediterranean 
region.  It  lies  in  the  midst  of  the  vast  desert  plateau,  which, 
beginning  at  the  Atlantic,  extends  eastward  across  the  entire 
northern  end  of  Africa,  and  continuing  beyond  the  depres- 
sion of  the  Red  Sea,  passes  northeastward,  with  some  inter- 
ruptions, far  into  the  heart  of  Asia.  Approaching  it,  the 
one  from  the  south  and  the  other  from  the  north,  two  great 
river  valleys  traverse  this  desert;  in  Asia,  the  Tigro- 
Euphrates  valley ;  in  Africa  that  of  the  Nile.  It  is  in  these 
two  valleys  that  the  career  of  man  may  be  traced  from 
the  rise  of  European  civilization  back  to  a  remoter  age  than 
anywhere  else  on  earth;  and  it  is  from  these  two  cradles  of 
the  human  race  that  the  influences  which  emanated  from 
their  highly  developed  but  differing  cultures,  can  now  be 
more  and  more  clearly  traced  as  we  discern  them  converging 
upon  the  early  civilization  of  Asia  Minor  and  southern 
Europe. 

3 


4 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


The  Nile,  which  created  the  valley  home  of  the  early 
Egyptians,  rises  three  degrees  south  of  the  equator,  and 
flowing  into  the  Mediterranean  at  over  thirty  one  and  a  half 
degrees  north  latitude,  it  attains  a  length  of  some  four  thou- 
sand miles,  and  vies  with  the  greatest  rivers  of  the  world  in 
length,  if  not  in  volume.  In  its  upper  course  the  river, 
emerging  from  the  lakes  of  equatorial  Africa,  is  known  as  the 
White  Nile.  Just  south  of  north  latitude  sixteen  at  Khar- 
tum, about  thirteen  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  sea, 
it  receives  from  the  east  an  affluent  known  as  the  Blue  Nile, 
which  is  a  considerable  mountain  torrent,  rising  in  the  lofty 
highlands  of  Abyssinia.  One  hundred  and  forty  miles 
below  the  union  of  the  two  Niles  the  stream  is  joined  by  its 
only  other  tributary,  the  Atbara,  which  is  a  freshet  not 
unlike  the  Blue  Nile.  It  is  at  Khartum,  or  just  below  it, 
that  the  river  enters  the  table  land  of  Nubian  sandstone, 
underlying  the  Great  Sahara.  Here  it  winds  on  its  tortuous 
course  between  the  desert  hills  (Fig.  84),  where  it  returns 
upon  itself,  often  flowing  due  south,  until  after  it  has  finally 
pushed  through  to  the  north,  its  course  describes  a  vast  S. 

In  six  different  places  throughout  this  region  the  current 
has  hitherto  failed  to  erode  a  perfect  channel  through  the 
stubborn  stone,  and  these  extended  interruptions,  where  the 
rocks  are  piled  in  scattered  and  irregular  masses  in  the 
stream,  are  known  as  the  cataracts  of  the  Nile;  although 
there  is  no  great  and  sudden  fall  such  as  that  of  our  cataract 
at  Niagara  (Fig.  1).  These  rocks  interfere  with  navigation 
most  seriously  in  the  region  of  the  first,  second  and  fourth 
cataracts ;  otherwise  the  river  is  navigable  almost  throughout 
its  entire  course.  At  Elephantine  it  passes  the  granite  bar- 
rier which  there  thrusts  up  its  rough  shoulder,  forming  the 
first  cataract,  and  thence  emerges  upon  an  unobstructed 
course  to  the  sea. 

It  is  the  valley  below  the  first  cataract  which  constituted 
Egypt  proper.  The  reason  for  the  change  which  here  gives 
the  river  a  free  course  is  the  disappearance  of  the  sandstone, 
sixty  eight  miles  below  the  cataract,  at  Edfu,  where  the  num- 


THE  LAND 


5 


mulitic  limestone  which  forms  the  northern  desert  plateau, 
offers  the  stream  an  easier  task  in  the  erosion  of  its  bed.  It 
has  thus  produced  a  vast  canon  or  trench  (Figs.  3  and  7), 
cut  across  the  eastern  end  of  the  Sahara  to  the  northern  sea. 
From  cliff  to  cliff,  the  valley  varies  in  width,  from  ten  or 
twelve,  to  some  thirty  one  miles.  The  floor  of  the  canon  is 
covered  with  black,  alluvial  deposits,  through  which  the 
river  winds  northward.  It  cuts  a  deep  channel  through  the 
alluvium,  flowing  with  a  speed  of  about  three  miles  an  hour ; 
in  width  it  only  twice  attains  a  maximum  of  eleven  hundred 
yards.  On  the  west  the  Bahr  Yusuf,  a  second,  minor  chan- 
nel some  two  hundred  miles  long,  leaves  the  main  stream 
near  Siut  and  flows  into  the  Fayum.  In  antiquity  it  flowed 
thence  into  a  canal  known  as  the  " North,' '  which  passed 
northward  west  of  Memphis  and  reached  the  sea  by  the  site 
of  later  Alexandria.1  A  little  over  a  hundred  miles  from  the 
sea  the  main  stream  enters  the  broad  triangle,  with  apex 
at  the  south,  which  the  Greeks  so  graphically  called  the 
* i Delta."  This  is  of  course  a  bay  of  prehistoric  ages,  which 
has  been  gradually  filled  up  by  the  river.  The  stream  once 
divided  at  this  point  and  reached  the  sea  through  seven 
mouths,  but  in  modern  times  there  are  but  two  main 
branches,  straggling  through  the  Delta  and  piercing  the 
coast-line  on  either  side  of  the  middle.  The  western  branch 
is  called  the  Rosetta  mouth ;  the  eastern  that  of  Damiette. 

The  deposits  which  have  formed  the  Delta,  are  very  deep, 
and  have  slowly  risen  over  the  sites  of  the  many  ancient 
cities  which  once  flourished  there.  The  old  swamps  which 
must  once  have  rendered  the  regions  of  the  northern  Delta 
a  vast  morass,  have  been  gradually  filled  up,  and  the  fringe 
of  marshes  pushed  further  out.  They  undoubtedly  occupied 
in  antiquity  a  much  larger  proportion  of  the  Delta  than  they 
do  now.  In  the  valley  above  the  depth  of  the  soil  varies 
from  thirty  three  to  thirty  eight  feet,  and  sometimes  reaches 
a  maximum  of  ten  miles  in  width.  The  cultivable  area  thus 
formed,  between  the  cataract  and  the  sea,  is  less  than  ten 

1lV,  224.  I.  8,  note 


6 


A  HISTORY  OP  EGYPT 


thousand  square  miles  in  extent,  being  roughly  equal  to  the 
area  of  the  state  of  Maryland,  or  about  ten  per  cent  less  than 
that  of  Belgium.  The  cliffs  on  either  hand  are  usually  but  a 
few  hundred  feet  in  height,  but  here  and  there  they  rise  into 
almost  mountains  of  a  thousand  feet  (Fig.  3).  They  are  of 
course  flanked  by  the  deserts  through  which  the  Nile  has 
cut  its  way.  On  the  west  the  Libyan  Desert  or  the  Great 
Sahara  rolls  in  illimitable,  desolate  hills  of  sand,  gravel  and 
rock,  from  six  hundred  and  fifty  to  a  thousand  feet  above 
the  Nile.  Its  otherwise  waterless  expanse  is  broken  only 
by  an  irregular  line  of  oases,  or  watered  depressions,  roughly 
parallel  with  the  river,  and  doubtless  owing  their  springs 
and  wells  to  infiltration  of  the  Nile  waters.  The  largest  of 
these  depressions  is  situated  so  close  to  the  valley  that  the 
rock  wall  which  once  separated  them  has  broken  down,  pro- 
ducing the  fertile  Fayum,  watered  by  the  Bahr  Yusuf. 
Otherwise  the  western  desert  held  no  economic  resources  for 
the  use  of  the  early  Nile-dwellers.  The  eastern  or  Arabian 
Desert  is  somewhat  less  inhospitable,  and  capable  of  yield- 
ing a  scanty  subsistence  to  wandering  tribes  of  Ababdeh. 
A  range  of  granite  mountains  parallel  with  the  coast  of  the 
Red  Sea  contains  gold-bearing  quartz  veins,  and  here  and 
there  other  gold-producing  mountains  lie  between  the  Nile 
and  the  Red  Sea.  Deposits  of  alabaster  and  extensive 
masses  of  various  fine,  hard  igneous  rocks  led  to  the  exploit- 
ation of  quarries  here  also,  while  the  Red  Sea  harbours 
could  of  course  be  reached  only  by  traversing  this  desert, 
through  which  established  routes  thither  were  early  traced. 
Further  north  similar  mineral  resources  led  to  an  acquaint- 
ance with  the  peninsula  of  Sinai  and  its  desert  regions,  at 
a  very  remote  date. 

The  situation  afforded  by  this  narrow  valley  was  one  of 
unusual  isolation ;  on  either  hand  vast  desert  wastes,  on  the 
north  the  harbourless  coast-line  of  the  Delta,  and  on  the  south 
the  rocky  barriers  of  successive  cataracts,  preventing  fusion 
with  the  peoples  of  inner  Africa.  It  was  chiefly  at  the  two 
northern  corners  of  the  Delta,  that  outside  influences  and 


Fig.  1.— ONE  OF  THE  CHANNELS  OF  THE  FIRST  CATARACT. 
Looking  northward  from  the  Island  of  Philae ;   ruins  on  Phila;  in  the  foreground 


Fig.  2.— THE  INUNDATION  SFEN  FROM  THE  ROAD  TO  THE  PYRAMIDS  OF  GIZEH. 

The  road  is  on  the  right ;  in  the  distance  the  desert  plateau  on  which  the  pyramids  stand.    Before  them  the  village 

of  Kafr. 


THE  LAND 


7 


foreign  elements,  which  were  always  sifting  into  the  Nile 
valley,  gained  access  to  the  country.  Through  the  eastern 
corner  it  was  the  prehistoric  Semitic  population  of  neigh- 
bouring Asia,  who  forced  their  way  in  across  the  dangerous 
intervening  deserts;  while  the  Libyan  races,  of  possibly 
European  origin,  found  entrance  at  the  western  corner.  The 
products  of  the  south  also,  in  spite  of  the  cataracts,  filtered 
in  ever  increasing  volume  into  the  regions  of  the  lower  river 
and  the  lower  end  of  the  first  cataract  became  a  trading 
post,  ever  after  known  as  "Suan"  (Assuan)  or  "market," 
where  the  negro  traders  of  the  south  met  those  of  Egypt. 
The  upper  Nile  thus  gradually  became  a  regular  avenue  of 
commerce  with  the  Sudan.  The  natural  boundaries  of 
Egypt,  however,  always  presented  sufficiently  effective  bar- 
riers to  would-be  invaders,  to  enable  the  natives  slowly  to 
assimilate  the  new  comers,  without  being  displaced. 

It  will  be  evident  that  the  remarkable  shape  of  the  country 
must  powerfully  influence  its  political  development.  Except 
in  the  Delta  it  was  but  a  narrow  line,  some  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  long.  Straggling  its  slender  length  along  the 
river,  and  sprawling  out  into  the  Delta,  it  totally  lacked  the 
compactness  necessary  to  stable  political  organization.  A 
given  locality  has  neighbours  on  only  two  sides,  north  and 
south,  and  these  their  shortest  boundaries ;  local  feeling  was 
strong,  local  differences  were  persistent,  and  a  man  of  the 
Delta  could  hardly  understand  the  speech  of  a  man  of  the 
first  cataract  region.  It  was  only  the  ease  of  communication 
afforded  by  the  river  which  in  any  degree  neutralized  the 
effect  of  the  country's  remarkable  length. 

The  wealth  of  commerce  which  the  river  served  to  carry, 
it  was  equally  instrumental  in  producing.  While  the  climate 
of  the  country  is  not  rainless,  yet  the  rare  showers  of  the 
south,  often  separated  by  intervals  of  years,  and  even  the 
more  frequent  rains  of  the  Delta,  are  totally  insufficient  to 
maintain  the  processes  of  agriculture.  The  marvellous  pro- 
ductivity of  the  Egyptian  soil  is  due  to  the  annual  inundation 
of  the  river,  which  is  caused  by  the  melting  of  the  snows, 


8 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


and  by  the  spring  rains  at  the  sources  of  the  Blue  Nile. 
Freighted  with  the  rich  loam  of  the  Abyssinian  highlands, 
the  rushing  waters  of  the  spring  freshet  hurry  down  the 
Nubian  valley,  and  a  slight  rise  is  discernible  at  the  first 
cataract  in  the  early  part  of  June.  The  flood  swells  rapidly 
and  steadily,  and  although  the  increase  is  usually  inter- 
rupted for  nearly  a  month  from  the  end  of  September  on, 
it  is  usually  resumed  again,  and  the  maximum  level  con- 
tinues until  the  end  of  October  or  into  November.  The 
waters  in  the  region  of  the  first  cataract  are  then  nearly  fifty 
feet  higher  than  at  low  water;  while  at  Cairo  the  rise  is 
about  half  that  at  the  cataract.  A  vast  and  elaborate  system 
of  irrigation  canals  and  reservoirs  first  receives  the  flood, 
which  is  then  allowed  to  escape  into  the  fields  as  needed. 
Here  it  rests  long  enough  to  deposit  its  burden  of  rich,  black 
earth  from  the  upper  reaches  of  the  Blue  Nile.  At  such 
times  the  appearance  of  the  country  is  picturesque  in  the 
extreme,  the  glistening  surface  of  the  waters  being  dotted 
here  and  there  by  the  vivid  green  of  the  waving  palm  groves, 
which  mark  the  villages,  now  accessible  only  along  the  dykes 
belonging  to  the  irrigation  system  (Fig.  2).  Thus  year  by 
year,  the  soil  which  would  otherwise  become  impoverished 
in  the  elements  necessary  to  the  production  of  such  prodi- 
gious harvests,  is  invariably  replenished  with  fresh  resources. 

As  the  river  sinks  below  the  level  of  the  fields  again,  it  is 
necessary  to  raise  the  water  from  the  canals  by  artificial 
means,  in  order  to  carry  on  the  constant  irrigation  of  the 
growing  crops  in  the  outlying  fields,  which  are  too  high  to 
be  longer  refreshed  by  absorption  from  the  river  (Fig0  6).1 
Thus  a  genial  and  generous,  but  exacting  soil,  demanded 
for  its  cultivation  the  development  of  a  high  degree  of  skill 

AThe  device  used  (called  a  "shaduf")  resembles  the  well-sweep  of  our 
grandfathers.  Fig.  6  shows  the  leathern  bucket  suspended  from  one  end  of  the 
sweep,  while  at  the  other  end  a  huge  lump  of  dried  mud  serves  as  a  counter- 
poise. When  the  water  is  very  low,  as  many  as  three  or  even  four  such 
"  shadufs  "  are  necessary  to  raise  the  water  from  level  to  level  until  that  of 
the  field  is  reached.  A  single  crop  requires  the  lifting  of  1,600  to  2,000  tons 
of  water  per  acre  in  a  hundred  days. 


THE  LAND 


9 


in  the  manipulation  of  the  life-giving  waters,  and  at  a  very 
early  day  the  men  of  the  Xile  valley  had  attained  a  sur- 
prising command  of  the  complicated  problems  involved  in 
the  proper  utilization  of  the  river.  If  Egypt  became  the 
mother  of  the  mechanical  arts,  the  river  will  have  been  one 
of  the  chief  natural  forces  to  which  this  fact  was  due.  With 
such  natural  assets  as  these,  an  ever  replenished  soil,  and 
almost  unfailing  waters  for  its  refreshment,  the  wealth  of 
Egypt  could  not  but  be  chiefly  agricultural,  a  fact  to  which 
we  shall  often  recur.  Such  opulent  fertility  of  course  sup- 
ported a  large  population— in  Roman  times  some  seven  mil- 
lion souls1— while  in  our  own  day  it  maintains  over  nine 
million,  a  density  of  population  far  surpassing  that  to  be 
found  anywhere  in  Europe.  The  other  natural  resources  of 
the  valley  we  shall  be  better  able  to  trace  as  we  follow  their 
exploitation  in  the  course  of  the  historical  development. 

In  climate  Egypt  is  a  veritable  paradise,  drawing  to  its 
shores  at  the  present  day  an  ever  increasing  number  of 
winter  guests.  The  air  of  Egypt  is  essentially  that  of  the 
deserts  within  vhich  it  lies,  and  such  is  its  purity  and 
.dryness,  that  even  an  excessive  degree  of  heat  occasions  but 
slight  discomfort,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  moisture  of  the 
body  is  dried  up  almost  as  fast  as  it  is  exhaled.  The  mean 
temperature  of  the  Delta  in  winter  is  56°  Fahrenheit,  and 
in  the  valley  above  it  is  ten  degrees  higher.  In  summer  the 
mean  in  the  Delta  is  83°  ;  and  although  the  summer  tempera- 
ture in  the  valley  is  sometimes  as  high  as  122°,  the  air  is 
far  from  the  oppressiveness  accompanying  the  same  degree 
of  heat  in  other  lands.  The  nights  even  in  summer  are 
always  cool,  and  the  vast  expanses  of  vegetation  appreciably 
reduce  the  temperature.  In  winter  just  before  dawn  the 
extreme  cold  is  surprising,  as  contrasted  with  the  genial 
warmth  of  midday  at  the  same  season.  To  the  absence  of 
rain  we  have  already  adverted.  The  rare  showers  of  upper 
Egypt  occur  only  when  cyclonic  disturbances  in  the  southern 
Mediterranean   or   northern   Sahara   force  undischarged 

1  Diodorus  I,  31. 


10 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


clouds  into  the  Nile  valley  from  the  west ;  from  the  east  they 
can  not  reach  the  valley,  owing  to  the  high  mountain  ridge 
along  the  Red  Sea,  which  forces  them  upward  and  discharges 
them.  The  lower  Delta,  however,  falls  within  the  zone  of 
the  northern  rainy  season.  In  spite  of  the  wide  extent  of 
marshy  ground,  left  stagnating  by  the  inundation,  the  dry 
airs  of  the  desert,  blowing  constantly  across  the  valley, 
quickly  dry  the  soil,  and  there  is  never  any  malarial  infection 
in  Upper  Egypt.  Even  in  the  vast  morass  of  the  Delta, 
malaria  is  practically  unknown.  Thus,  lying  just  outside 
of  the  tropics,  Egypt  enjoyed  a  mild  climate  of  unsurpassed 
salubrity,  devoid  of  the  harshness  of  a  northern  winter,  but 
at  the  same  time  sufficiently  cool  to  escape  those  enervating 
influences  inherent  in  tropical  conditions. 

The  prospect  of  this  contracted  valley  spread  out  before 
the  Nile  dweller,  was  in  antiquity,  as  it  is  to-day,  somewhat 
monotonous.  The  level  Nile  bottoms,  the  gift  of  the  river, 
clad  in  rich  green,  shut  in  on  either  hand  by  the  yellow  cliffs, 
are  unrelieved  by  any  elevations  or  by  any  forests,  save  the 
occasional  groves  of  graceful  palms,  which  fringe  the  river 
banks  or  shade  the  villages  of  sombre  mud  huts  (Fig.  4), 
with  now  and  then  a  sycamore,  a  tamarisk  or  an  acacia.  A 
network  of  irrigation  canals  traverses  the  country  in  every 
direction  like  a  vast  arterial  system.  The  sands  of  the  deso- 
late wastes  which  lie  behind  the  canon  walls,  drift  in  athwart 
the  cliffs,  and  often  invade  the  green  fields  so  that  one 
may  stand  with  one  foot  in  the  verdure  of  the  valley,  and 
the  other  in  the  desert  sand.  Thus  sharply  defined  was  the 
Egyptian 's  world :  a  deep  and  narrow  valley  of  unparalleled 
fertility,  winding  between  lifeless  deserts,  furnishing  a 
remarkable  environment,  not  to  be  found  elsewhere  in  all 
the  world.  Such  surroundings  reacted  powerfully  upon  the 
mind  and  thought  of  the  Egyptian,  conditioning  and  deter- 
mining his  idea  of  the  world  and  his  notion  of  the  mysterious 
powers  which  ruled  it.  The  river,  the  dominant  feature  of 
his  valley,  determined  his  notion  of  direction :  his  words  for 
north  and  south  were  "down-stream"  and  "up-stream"; 


Fig.  3.— LOOKING  ACROSS  THE  NILE  TO  THE  WESTERN  CLIFFS  NEAR  THEBES. 
The  low  shores  mark  the  level  of  the  alluvium  extending  bark  to  the  cliffs. 


Fig.  4.-THE  HUTS  AND  PALM  GROVES  OF  KARNAK,  THEBES. 

Seen  from  the  roof  of  the  temple  of  Khonsu.  Tn  the  foreground  is  the  gate  or  propylon  of  Euergetes  I  (Ptolemy 
111,  247-222  B.C.).  Leading  up  to  it  is  the  avenue  of  sphinxes  made  by  Amenhotep  III,  connecting  Karnak  and 
Luxor. 


THE  LAND 


11 


and  when  he  broke  through  the  barriers  which  separated 
him  from  Asia,  and  reached  the  Euphrates,  he  called  it ' i  that 
inverted  water  which  goes  down  stream  in  going  up  stream' ' 
(southward).1  For  him  the  world  consisted  of  the  ' 1  Black 
Land"  and  the  "Red  Land,"  the  black  soil  of  the  Nile  valley 
and  the  reddish  surface  of  the  desert ;  or  again  of  the  ' '  plain ' 9 
and  the  "highlands,"  meaning  the  level  Nile  "bottoms" 
and  the  high  desert  plateau.  ' '  Highlander ' '  was  synonymous 
with  foreigner,  to  "go  up"  was  to  leave  the  valley,  while  to 
"descend"  was  the  customary  term  for  returning  home  from 
abroad.  The  illimitable  solitudes  of  the  desert,  which  thrust 
itself  thus  insistently  upon  his  vision  and  his  whole  economy 
of  life,  and  formed  his  horizon  toward  both  suns,  tinctured 
with  sombreness  his  views  of  the  great  gods  who  ruled  such 
a  world. 

Such  was  in  brief  the  scene  in  which  developed  the  people 
of  the  Nile,  whose  culture  dominated  the  basin  of  the  eastern 
Mediterranean  in  the  age  when  Europe  was  emerging  into 
the  secondary  stages  of  civilization,  and  coming  into  intimate 
contact  with  the  culture  of  the  early  east.  Nowhere  on  earth 
have  the  witnesses  of  a  great,  but  now  extinct  civilization, 
been  so  plentifully  preserved  as  along  the  banks  of  the  Nile. 
Even  in  the  Delta,  where  the  storms  of  war  beat  more  fiercely 
than  in  the  valley  above,  and  where  the  slow  accumulations 
from  the  yearly  flood  have  gradually  entombed  them,  the 
splendid  cities  of  the  Pharaohs  have  left  great  stretches, 
cumbered  with  enormous  blocks  of  granite,  limestone  and 
sandstone,  shattered  obelisks,  and  massive  pylon  bases,  to 
proclaim  the  wealth  and  power  of  forgotten  ages;. while  an 
ever  growing  multitude  of  modern  visitors  are  drawn  to  the 
upper  valley  by  the  colossal  ruins  that  greet  the  wondering 
traveller  almost  at  every  bend  in  the  stream.  Nowhere  else 
in  the  ancient  world  were  such  massive  stone  buildings 
erected,  and  nowhere  else  has  a  dry  atmosphere,  coupled 
with  an  almost  complete  absence  of  rain,  permitted  the  sur- 
vival of  such  a  wealth  of  the  best  and  highest  in  the  life  of 

in,  72, 


12 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


an  ancient  people,  in  so  far  as  that  life  found  expression  in 
material  form.  In  the  plenitude  of  its  splendour,  much  of  it 
thus  survived  into  the  classic  age  of  European  civilization, 
and  hence  it  was,  that  as  Egypt  was  gradually  overpowered 
and  absorbed  by  the  western  world,  the  currents  of  life  from 
west  and  east  commingled  here,  as  they  have  never  done  else- 
where. Both  in  the  Nile  valley  and  beyond  it,  the  west 
thus  felt  the  full  impact  of  Egyptian  civilization  for  many 
centuries,  and  gained  from  it  all  that  its  manifold  culture 
had  to  contribute.  The  career  which  made  Egypt  so  rich  a 
heritage  of  alien  peoples,  and  a  legacy  so  valuable  to  all  later 
ages,  we  shall  endeavour  to  trace  in  the  ensuing  chapters. 


CHAPTER  II 


PRELIMINARY   SURVEY,  CHRONOLOGY  AND 
DOCUMENTARY  SOURCES 

A  rapid  survey  of  the  purely  external  features  which  serve 
to  demark  the  great  epochs  in  the  career  of  the  Nile  valley 
people,  will  enable  us  the  more  intelligently  to  study  those 
epochs  in  detail,  as  we  meet  them  in  the  course  of  our 
progress.  In  such  a  survey,  we  sweep  our  eyes  down  a 
period  of  four  thousand  years  of  human  history,  from  a  time 
when  the  only  civilization  known  in  the  basin  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean is  slowly  dawning  among  a  primitive  people  on  the 
shores  of  the  Nile.  We  can  cast  but  a  brief  glance  at  the 
outward  events  which  characterized  each  great  period,  espe- 
cially noting  how  foreign  peoples  are  gradually  drawn  within 
the  circle  of  Egyptian  intercourse  from  age  to  age,  and 
reciprocal  influences  ensue;  until  in  the  thirteenth  century 
B.  C.  the  peoples  of  southern  Europe,  long  discernible  in 
their  material  civilization,  emerge  in  the  written  documents 
of  Egypt  for  the  first  time  in  history.  It  was  then  that  the 
fortunes  of  the  Pharaohs  began  to  decline,  and  as  the  civili- 
zation and  power,  first  of  the  East  and  then  of  classic 
Europe,  slowly  developed,  Egypt  was  finally  submerged  in 
the  great  world  of  Mediterranean  powers,  first  dominated 
by  Persia,  and  then  by  Greece  and  Rome. 

The  career  of  the  races  which  peopled  the  Nile  valley  falls 
into  a  series  of  more  or  less  clearly  marked  epochs,  each  of 
which  is  rooted  deeply  in  that  which  preceded  it,  and  itself 
contains  the  germs  of  that  which  is  to  follow.  A  more  or 
less  arbitrary  and  artificial  but  convenient  sub-division  of 
these  epochs,  beginning  with  the  historic  age,  is  furnished 
by  the  so-called  dynasties  of  Manetho.    This  native  historian 

13 


14 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


of  Egypt,  a  priest  of  Sebennytos,  who  flourished  under 
Ptolemy  I  (305-285  B.  C),  wrote  a  history  of  his  country 
in  the  Greek  language.  The  work  has  perished,  and  we  only 
know  it  in  an  epitome  by  Julius  Africanus  and  Eusebius, 
and  extracts  by  Josephus.  The  value  of  the  work  was  slight, 
as  it  was  built  up  on  folk-tales  and  popular  traditions  of  the 
early  kings.  Manetho  divided  the  long  succession  of  Phar- 
aohs as  known  to  him,  into  thirty  royal  houses  or  dynas- 
ties, and  although  we  know  that  many  of  his  divisions  are 
arbitrary,  and  that  there  was  many  a  dynastic  change  where 
he  indicates  none,  yet  his  dynasties  divide  the  kings  into 
convenient  groups,  which  have  so  long  been  employed  in 
modern  study  of  Egyptian  history,  that  it  is  now  impossible 
to  dispense  with  them. 

After  an  archaic  age  of  primitive  civilization,  and  a  period 
of  small  and  local  kingdoms,  the  various  centres  of  civiliza- 
tion on  the  Nile  gradually  coalesced  into  two  kingdoms :  one 
comprising  the  valley  down  to  the  Delta;  and  the  other 
made  up  of  the  Delta  itself.  In  the  Delta,  civilization  rap- 
idly advanced,  and  the  calendar  year  of  365  days  was  intro- 
duced in  4241  B.  C,  the  earliest  fixed  date  in  the  history  of 
the  world  as  known  to  us.1  A  long  development,  as  the 
1 '  Two  Lands, ' '  which  left  their  imprint  forever  after,  on 
the  civilization  of  later  centuries,  preceded  a  united  Egypt, 
which  emerged  upon  our  historic  horizon  at  the  consoli- 
dation of  the  two  kingdoms  into  one  nation  under  Menes 
about  3400  B.  C.  His  accession  marks  the  beginning  of  the 
dynasties,  and  the  preceding,  earliest  period  may  be  conve- 
niently designated  as  the  predynastic  age.  In  the  excava- 
tions of  the  last  ten  years,  the  predynastic  civilization  has 
been  gradually  revealed  in  material  documents  exhibiting 
the  various  stages  in  the  slow  evolution  which  at  last  pro- 
duced the  dynastic  culture. 

A  uniform  government  of  the  whole  country  was  the  secret 
of  over  four  centuries  of  prosperity  under  the  descendants 
of  Menes  at  Thinis,  near  Abydos,  close  to  the  great  bend  of 

1I,  44-45. 


PRELIMINARY  SURVEY 


15 


the  Nile  below  Thebes,  and  probably  also  at  or  near  later 
Memphis.  The  remarkable  development  of  these  four  cen- 
turies in  material  civilization  led  to  the  splendour  and  power 
of  the  first  great  epoch  of  Egyptian  history,  the  Old  King- 
dom. The  seat  of  government  was  at  Memphis,  where  four 
royal  houses,  the  Third,  Fourth,  Fifth  and  Sixth  Dynasties, 
ruled  in  succession  for  five  hundred  years  (2980-2475  B.  C). 
Art  and  mechanics  reached  a  level  of  unprecedented  excel- 
lence never  later  surpassed,  while  government  and  adminis- 
tration had  never  before  been  so  highly  developed.  Foreign 
enterprise  passed  far  beyond  the  limits  of  the  kingdom ;  the 
mines  of  Sinai,  already  operated  in  the  First  Dynasty,  were 
vigourously  exploited;  trade  in  Egyptian  bottoms  reached 
the  coast  of  Phoenicia  and  the  Islands  of  the  North,  while  in 
the  south,  the  Pharaoh's  fleets  penetrated  to  the  Somali  coast 
on  the  Red  Sea ;  and  in  Nubia  his  envoys  were  strong  enough 
to  exercise  a  loose  sovereignty  over  the  lower  country,  and 
by  tireless  expeditions  to  keep  open  the  trade  routes  leading 
to  the  Sudan.  In  the  Sixth  Dynasty  (2625-2475  B.  C.) 
the  local  governors  of  the  central  administration,  who  had 
already  gained  hereditary  hold  upon  their  offices  in  the 
Fifth  Dynasty  (2750-2625  B.  C),  were  able  to  assert  them- 
selves as  landed  barons  and  princes,  no  longer  mere  func- 
tionaries of  the  crown.  They  thus  prepared  the  way  for 
an  age  of  feudalism. 

The  growing  power  of  the  new  landed  nobility  finally 
caused  the  fall  of  the  Pharaonic  house,  and  after  the  close 
of  the  Sixth  Dynasty,  about  2400  B.  C,  the  supremacy  of 
Memphis  waned.  In  the  internal  confusion  which  followed, 
we  can  discern  nothing  of  Manetho's  ephemeral  Seventh 
and  Eighth  Dynasties  at  Memphis,  which  lasted  not  more 
than  thirty  years ;  but  with  the  Ninth  and  Tenth  Dynasties 
the  nobles  of  Heracleopolis  gained  the  throne,  which  was 
occupied  by  eighteen  successive  kings  of  the  line.  It  is  now 
that  Thebes  first  appears  as  the  seat  of  a  powerful  family 
of  princes,  by  whom  the  Heracleopolitans  and  the  power  of 
the  North  are  gradually  overcome  till  the  South  triumphs. 


IK 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


The  exact  lapse  of  time  from  the  fall  of  the  Old  Kingdom 
to  the  triumph  of  the  South  is  at  present  indeterminable,  but 
it  may  be  estimated  roughly  at  two  hundred  and  seventy  five 
to  three  hundred  years,1  with  a  margin  of  uncertainty  of 
possibly  a  century  either  way. 

With  the  restoration  of  a  united  Egypt  under  the  Theban 
princes  of  the  Eleventh  Dynasty  about  2160  B.  C,  the  issue 
of  the  tendencies  already  discernible  at  the  close  of  the  Old 
Kingdom  is  clearly  visible.  Throughout  the  land  the  local 
princes  and  barons  are  firmly  seated  in  their  domains,  and 
with  these  hereditary  feudatories  the  Pharaoh  must  now 
reckon.  The  system  was  not  fully  developed  until  the 
advent  of  a  second  Theban  family,  the  Twelfth  Dynasty,  the 
founder  of  which,  Amenemhet  I,  probably  usurped  the 
throne.  For  over  two  hundred  years  (2000-1788  B.  C.)  this 
powerful  line  of  kings  ruled  a  feudal  state.  This  feudal 
age  is  the  classic  period  of  Egyptian  history.  Literature 
flourished,  the  orthography  of  the  language  was  for  the  first 
time  regulated,  poetry  had  already  reached  a  highly  artistic 
structure,  the  earliest  known  literature  of  entertainment  was 
produced,  sculpture  and  architecture  were  rich  and  prolific, 
and  the  industrial  arts  surpassed  all  previous  attainments. 
The  internal  resources  of  the  country  were  elaborately  devel- 
oped, especially  by  close  attention  to  the  Nile  and  the  inun- 
dation. Enormous  hydraulic  works  reclaimed  large  tracts 
of  cultivable  domain  in  the  Fayum,  in  the  vicinity  of  which 
the  kings  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty,  the  Amenemhets  and  the 
Sesostrises,  lived.  Abroad  the  exploitation  of  the  mines  in 
Sinai  was  now  carried  on  by  the  constant  labour  of  permanent 
colonies  there,  with  temples,  fortifications  and  reservoirs  for 
the  water  supply.  A  plundering  campaign  was  carried  into 
Syria,  trade  and  intercourse  with  its  Semitic  tribes  were  con- 
stant, and  an  interchange  of  commodities  with  the  early 
Mycenaean  centres  of  civilization  in  the  northern  Mediter- 
ranean is  evident.  Traffic  with  Punt  and  the  southern  coasts 
of  the  Red  Sea  continued,  while  in  Nubia  the  country  between 

1I,  53. 


PRELIMINARY  SURVEY 


17 


the  first  and  second  cataracts,  loosely  controlled  in  the  Sixth 
Dynasty,  was  now  conquered  and  held  tributary  by  the 
Pharaoh,  so  that  the  gold  mines  on  the  east  of  it  were  a  con- 
stant resource  of  his  treasury. 

The  fall  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty  in  1788  B.  C.  was  followed 
by  a  second  period  of  disorganization  and  obscurity,  as  the 
feudatories  struggled  for  the  crown.  Now  and  then  an 
aggressive  and  able  ruler  gained  the  ascendency  for  a  brief 
reign,  and  under  one  of  these  the  subjugation  of  Upper 
Nubia  was  carried  forward  to  a  point  above  the  third  cat- 
aract; but  his  conquest  perished  with  him.  After  possibly 
a  century  of  such  internal  conflict,  the  country  was  entered 
and  appropriated  by  a  line  of  rulers  from  Asia,  who  had 
Jeemingly  already  gained  a  wide  dominion  there.  These 
foreign  usurpers,  now  known  as  the  Hyksos,  after  Manetho 's 
designation  of  them,  maintained  themselves  for  perhaps  a 
century.  Their  residence  was  at  Avaris  in  the  eastern  Delta, 
and  at  least  durkig  the  later  part  of  their  supremacy,  the 
Egyptian  nobles  of  the  South  succeeded  in  gaining  more  or 
less  independence.  Finally  the  head  of  a  Theban  family 
boldly  proclaimed  himself  king,  and  in  the  course  of  some 
years  these  Theban  princes  succeeded  in  expelling  the 
Hyksos  from  the  country,  and  driving  them  back  from  the 
Asiatic  frontier  into  Syria. 

It  was  under  the  Hyksos  and  in  the  struggle  with  them 
that  the  conservatism  of  millennia  was  broken  up  in  the 
Nile  valley.  The  Egyptians  learned  aggressive  war  for  the 
first  time,  and  introduced  a  well  organized  military  system, 
including  chariotry,  which  the  importation  of  the  horse  by 
the  Hyksos  now  enabled  them  to  do.  Egypt  was  trans- 
formed into  a  military  empire.  In  the  struggle  with  the 
Hyksos  and  with  each  other,  the  old  feudal  families  perished, 
or  were  absorbed  among  the  partisans  of  the  dominant 
Theban  family,  from  which  the  imperial  line  sprang.  The 
great  Pharaohs  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  thus  became 
emperors,  conquering  and  ruling  from  northern  Syria  and 
the  upper  Euphrates,  to  the  fourth  cataract  of  the  Nile  on 
2 


18 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


the  south.  Amid  unprecedented  wealth  and  splendour,  they 
ruled  their  vast  dominions,  which  they  gradually  welded 
together  into  a  compact  empire,  the  first  known  in  the  early 
world.  Thebes  grew  into  a  great  metropolis,  the  earliest  mon- 
umental city.  Extensive  trade  relations  with  the  East  and  the 
Mediterranean  world  developed;  Mycenaean  products  were 
common  in  Egypt,  and  Egyptian  influences  are  clearly  dis- 
cernible in  Mycenaean  art.  For  two  hundred  and  thirty  years 
(1580-1350  B.  C.)  the  Empire  flourished,  but  was  wrecked  at 
last  by  a  combination  of  adverse  influences  both  within  and 
without.  A  religious  revolution  by  the  young  and  gifted 
king  Ikhnaton,  caused  an  internal  convulsion  such  as  the 
country  had  never  before  experienced;  while  the  empire  in 
the  north  gradually  disintegrated  under  the  aggressions  of 
the  Hittites,  who  pushed  in  from  Asia  Minor.  At  the  same 
time  in  both  the  northern  and  southern  Asiatic  dominions 
of  the  Pharaoh,  an  overflow  of  Beduin  immigration,  among 
which  were  undoubtedly  some  of  the  tribes  which  later 
coalesced  with  the  Israelites,  aggravated  the  danger,  and 
together  with  the  persistent  advance  of  the  Hittites,  finally 
resulted  in  the  complete  dissolution  of  the  Asiatic  empire  of 
Egypt,  down  to  the  very  frontier  of  the  northeastern  Delta. 
Meanwhile  the  internal  disorders  had  caused  the  fall  of  the 
Eighteenth  Dynasty,  an  event  which  terminated  the  First 
Period  of  the  Empire  (1350  B.  C). 

Harmhab,  one  of  the  able  commanders  under  the  fallen 
dynasty,  survived  the  crisis  and  finally  seized  the  throne. 
Under  his  vigourous  rule  the  disorganized  nation  was  grad- 
ually restored  to  order,  and  his  successors  of  the  Nineteenth 
Dynasty  (1350-1205  B.  C.)  were  able  to  begin  the  recovery 
of  the  lost  empire  in  Asia.  But  the  Hittites  were  too 
firmly  entrenched  in  Syria  to  yield  to  the  Egyptian  onset. 
The  assaults  of  Seti  I,  and  half  a  generation  of  persistent 
campaigning  under  Eamses  II,  failed  to  push  the  northern 
frontier  of  the  Empire  far  beyond  the  limits  of  Palestine. 
Here  it  remained  and  Syria  was  never  permanently  recov- 
ered.    Semitic  influences  now  powerfully  affected  Egypt. 


Fig.  7.— THE  CLIFFS  OF  THE  NILE  CANON. 
Looking  down  the  valley  from  a  point  west  of  Thebes.  (Stereograph 
copyright  Underwood  &  Underwood,  N.  Y.J 


PRELIMINARY  SURVEY  19 

At  this  juncture  the  peoples  of  southern  Europe  emerge 
for  the  first  time  upon  the  arena  of  oriental  history  and 
together  with  Libyan  hordes,  threaten  to  overwhelm  the 
Delta  from  the  west.  They  were  nevertheless  beaten  back 
by  Merneptah.  After  another  period  of  internal  confusion 
and  usurpation,  during  which  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty  fell 
(1205  B.  C),  Ramses  III,  whose  father,  Setnakht  founded 
the  Twentieth  Dynasty  (1200-1090  B.  C),  was  able  to  main- 
tain the  Empire  at  the  same  limits,  against  the  invasions  of 
restless  northern  tribes,  who  crushed  the  Hittite  power ;  and 
also  against  repeated  immigrations  of  the  Libyans.  With 
his  death  (1167  B.  C.)  the  empire,  with  the  exception  of 
Nubia  which  was  still  held,  rapidly  fell  to  pieces.  Thus, 
about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century  B.  C.  the  Second 
Period  of  the  imperial  age  closed  with  the  total  dissolution 
of  the  Asiatic  dominions. 

Under  a  series  of  weak  Ramessids,  the  country  rapidly 
declined  and  fell  a  prey  first  to  the  powerful  high  priests  of 
Amon,  who  were  obliged  almost  immediately  to  yield  to 
stronger  Ramessid  rivals  in  the  Delta  at  Tanis,  forming 
the  Twenty  First  Dynasty  (1090-945  B.  C).  By  the  middle 
of  the  tenth  century  B.  C.  the  mercenaries,  who  had  formed 
the  armies  of  the  second  imperial  period,  had  founded  pow- 
erful families  in  the  Delta  cities,  and  among  these  the 
Libyans  were  now  supreme.  Sheshonk  I,  a  Libyan  mercenary 
commander,  gained  the  throne  as  the  founder  of  the  Twenty 
Second  Dynasty  in  945  B.  C.  and  the  country  enjoyed 
transient  prosperity,  while  Sheshonk  even  attempted  the 
recovery  of  Palestine.  But  the  family  was  unable  to  control 
the  turbulent  mercenary  commanders,  now  established  as 
dynasties  in  the  larger  Delta  towns,  and  the  country  grad- 
ually relapsed  into  a  series  of  military  principalities  in 
constant  warfare  with  each  other.  Through  the  entire 
Libyan  period  of  the  Twenty  Second,  Twenty  Third  and 
Twenty  Fourth  Dynasties  (945-712  B.  C.)  the  unhappy 
nation  groaned  under  such  misrule,  constantly  suffering 
economic  deterioration. 


20 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Nubia  had  now  detached  itself  and  a  dynasty  of  kings, 
probably  of  Theban  origin  had  arisen  at  Napata,  below  the 
fourth  cataract.  These  Egyptian  rulers  of  the  new  Nubian 
kingdom  now  invaded  Egypt,  and  although  residing  at 
Napata,  maintained  their  sovereignty  in  Egypt  with  varying 
fortune  for  two  generations  (722-663  B.  C).  But  they  were 
unable  to  suppress  and  exterminate  the  local  dynasts,  who 
ruled  on,  while  acknowledging  the  suzerainty  of  the  Nubian 
overlord.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  these  conflicts  between  the 
Nubian  dynasty  and  the  mercenary  lords  of  Lower  Egypt, 
that  the  Assyrians  finally  entered  the  Delta,  subdued  the 
country  and  placed  it  under  tribute  (670-662  B.  C).  At  this 
juncture  Psamtik  I,  an  able  dynast  of  Sais,  in  the  western 
Delta,  finally  succeeded  in  overthrowing  his  rivals,  expelled 
the  Ninevite  garrisons,  and  as  the  Nubians  had  already  been 
forced  out  of  the  country  by  the  Assyrians,  he  was  able  to 
found  a  powerful  dynasty,  and  usher  in  the  Restoration. 
His  accession  fell  in  663  B.  C,  and  the  entire  period  of 
nearly  five  hundred  years  from  the  final  dissolution  of  the 
Empire  about  1150  to  the  dawn  of  the  Restoration  in  663  B. 
C,  may  be  conveniently  designated  the  Decadence.  After 
1100  B.  C.  the  Decadence  may  be  conveniently  divided  into 
the  Tanite-Amonite  Period  (1090-945  B.  C),  the  Libyan 
Period  (945-712  B.  C),  the  Ethiopian  Period  (722-663  B. 
C),  and  the  Assyrian  Period,  which  is  contemporary  with 
the  last  years  of  the  Ethiopian  Period. 

Of  the  Restoration,  like  all  those  epochs  in  which  the  seat 
of  power  was  in  the  Delta,  where  almost  all  monuments  have 
perished,  we  learn  very  little  from  native  sources;  and  all 
too  little  also  from  Herodotus  and  later  Greek  visitors  in 
the  Nile  valley.  It  was  outwardly  an  age  of  power  and 
splendour,  in  which  the  native  party  endeavoured  to  restore 
the  old  glories  of  the  classic  age  before  the  Empire ;  while  the 
kings  depending  upon  Greek  mercenaries,  were  modern  poli- 
ticians, employing  the  methods  of  the  new  Greek  world, 
mingling  in  the  world-politics  of  their  age,  and  showing  little 
sympathy  with  the  archaizing  tendency.    But  their  combi- 


PRELIMINARY  SURVEY 


21 


nations  failed  to  save  Egypt  from  the  ambition  of  Persia, 
and  its  history  under  native  dynasties,  with  unimportant 
exceptions,  was  concluded  with  the  conquest  of  the  country 
by  Cambyses  in  525  B.  C. 

Such,  in  mechanical  review,  were  the  purely  external 
events  which  marked  the  successive  epochs  of  Egypt's  his- 
tory as  an  independent  nation.  With  their  dates,  these 
epochs  may  be  summarized  thus : 

Introduction  of  the  Calendar,  4241  B.  C. 

Predynastic  Age,  before  3400  B.  C. 

The  Accession  of  Menes,  3400  B.  C. 

The  first  Two  Dynasties,  3400-2980  B.  C. 

The  Old  Kingdom:  Dynasties  Three  to  Six,  2980-2475 
B.  C. 

Eighteen  Heracleopolitans,  2445-2160  B.  C. 

The  Middle  Kingdom:  Dynasties  Eleven  and  Twelve, 
2160-1788  B.  C. 

Internal  Conflicts  of  the  Feudatories,  f 

The  Hyksos,  I  1788"1580  B-  C- 

The  Empire :  First  Period,  The  Eighteenth  Dynasty,  1580- 
1350  B.  C. 

The  Empire:  Second  Period,  The  Nineteenth  and  part  of 
the  Twentieth  Dynasty,  1350-1150  B.  C. 

[  Last  Two  Generations  of  Twentieth  Dy- 
nasty, about  1150  to  1090  B.  C. 
Tanite-Amonite  Period,  Twenty  First  Dy- 
nasty, 1090-945  B.  C. 
The  Decadence  J  Libyan  Period,  Dynasties  Twenty  Two  to 
Twenty  Four,  945-712  B.  C. 
Ethiopian  Period,  722-663  B.  C.  (Twenty 
Fifth  Dynasty,  712-663  B.  C). 
t  Assyrian  Supremacy,  670-662  B.  C. 
The  Restoration,  Saite  Period,  Twenty  Sixth  Dvnasty, 
663-525  B.  C. 

Persian  Conquest,  525  B.  C. 

The  reader  will  find  at  the  end  of  the  volume  a  ruller 
table  of  reigns.    The  chronology  of  the  above  table  is 


22 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


obtained  by  two  independent  processes :  first  by  i '  dead  reck- 
oning, 9  9  and  second  by  astronomical  calculations  based  on  the 
Egyptian  calendar.  By  ' '  dead  reckoning  "  we  mean  simply 
the  addition  of  the  known  minimum  length  of  all  the  kings' 
reigns,  and  from  the  total  thus  obtained,  the  simple  compu- 
tation (backward  from  a  fixed  starting  point)  of  the  date 
of  the  beginning  of  the  series  of  reigns  so  added.  Employ- 
ing all  the  latest  dates  from  recent  discoveries,  it  is  mathe- 
matically certain  that  from  the  accession  of  the  Eighteenth 
Dynasty  to  the  conquest  of  the  Persians  in  525  B.  C.  the 
successive  Pharaohs  reigned  at  least  1052  years  in  all.1  The 
Eighteenth  Dynasty  therefore  began  not  later  than  1577  B. 
C.  Astronomical  calculations  based  on  the  date  of  the  rising 
of  Sirius,  and  of  the  occurrence  of  new  moons,  both  in  terms 
of  the  shifting  Egyptian  calendar,  place  the  date  of  the 
accession  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  with  fair  precision  in 
1580  B.  C.2  For  the  periods  earlier  than  the  Eighteenth 
Dynasty,  we  can  no  longer  employ  the  method  of  dead  reck- 
oning alone,  because  of  the  scantiness  of  the  contemporary 
documents.  Fortunately  another  date  of  the  rising  of 
Sirius,  fixes  the  advent  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty  at  2000  B. 
C,  with  a  margin  of  uncertainty  of  not  more  than  a  year 
or  two  either  way.  From  this  date  the  beginning  of  the 
Eleventh  Dynasty  is  again  only  a  matter  of  "dead  reckon- 
ing.' '  The  uncertainty  as  to  the  duration  of  the  Heracleo- 
politan  supremacy  makes  the  length  of  the  period  between 
the  Old  and  Middle  Kingdoms  very  uncertain.  If  we  give  the 
eighteen  Heraeleopolitans  sixteen  years  each,  which,  under 
orderly  conditions,  is  a  fair  average  in  the  orient,  they  will 
have  ruled  288  years.3  In  estimating  their  duration  at  285 
years,  we  may  err  possibly  as  much  as  a  century  either  way. 
The  computation  of  the  length  of  the  Old  Kingdom  is  based 
on  contemporary  monuments  and  early  lists,  in  which  the 
margin  of  error  is  probably  not  more  than  a  generation  or 
two  either  way,  but  the  uncertain  length  of  the  Heracleo- 
politan  rule  affects  all  dates  back  of  that  age,  and  a  shift 

*!,  47-51.  2 1,  38-46.  8 1,  53. 


PRELIMINARY  SURVEY 


23 


of  a  century  either  way  in  the  years  B.  C.  is  not  impossible. 
The  ancient  annals  of  the  Palermo  Stone  establish  the  length 
of  the  first  two  dynasties  at  roughly  420  years,1  and  the  date 
of  the  accession  of  Menes  and  the  union  of  Egypt  as  3400 
B.  C. ;  but  we  carry  back  with  us,  from  the  Heracleopolitan 
age,  the  same  wide  margin  of  uncertainty  as  in  the  Old 
Kingdom.  The  reader  will  have  observed  that  this  system 
of  chronology  is  based  upon  the  contemporary  monuments 
and  lists  dating  not  later  than  1200  B.  C.  The  extremely 
high  dates  for  the  beginning  of  the  dynasties  current  in 
some  histories  are  inherited  from  an  older  generation  of 
Egyptologists;  and  are  based  upon  the  chronology  of 
Manetho,  a  late,  careless  and  uncritical  compilation,  which 
can  be  proven  wrong  from  the  contemporary  monuments  in 
the  vast  majority  of  cases,  where  such  monuments  have  sur- 
vived. Its  dynastic  totals  are  so.  absurdly  high  throughout, 
that  they  are  not  worthy  of  a  moment 's  credence,  being  often 
nearly  or  quite  double  the  maximum  drawn  from  contem- 
porary monuments,  and  they  will  not  stand  the  slightest 
careful  criticism.  Their  accuracy  is  now  maintained  only 
by  a  small  and  constantly  decreasing  number  of  modern 
scholars. 

Like  our  chronology  our  knowledge  of  the  early  history 
of  Egypt  must  be  gleaned  from  the  contemporary  native 
monuments.2  Monumental  sources  even  when  full  and  com- 
plete are  at  best  but  insufficient  records,  affording  data  for 
only  the  meagrest  outlines  of  great  achievements  and  impor- 
tant epochs.  While  the  material  civilization  of  the  country 
found  adequate  expression  in  magnificent  works  of  the  artist, 
craftsman  and  engineer,  the  inner  life  of  the  nation,  or  even 
the  purely  external  events  of  moment  could  find  record  only 
incidentally.  Such  documents  are  sharply  differentiated 
from  the  materials  with  which  the  historian  of  European 
nations  deals,  except  of  course  in  his  study  of  the  earliest 
ages.  Extensive  correspondence  between  statesmen,  jour- 
nals and  diaries,  state  documents  and  reports— such  mate- 

i  I,  84-85.  *  I,  1-37. 


24 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


rials  as  these  are  almost  wholly  wanting  in  monumental 
records.  Imagine  writing  a  history  of  Greece  from  the  few 
Greek  inscriptions  surviving.  Moreover,  we  possess  no  his- 
tory of  Egypt  of  sufficiently  early  date  by  a  native  Egyptian ; 
the  compilation  of  puerile  folk-tales  by  Manetho,  in  the  third 
century  B.  C.  is  hardly  worthy  of  the  name  history.  But 
an  annalist  of  the  remote  ages  with  which  we  are  to  deal, 
could  have  had  little  conception  of  what  would  be  important 
for  future  ages  to  know,  even  if  he  had  undertaken  a  full 
chronicle  of  historical  events.  Scanty  annals  were  indeed 
kept  from  the  earliest  times,  but  these  have  entirely  perished 
with  the  exception  of  two  fragments,  the  now  famous 
Palermo  Stone,1  which  once  bore  the  annals  of  the  earliest 
dynasties  from  the  beginning  down  into  the  Fifth  Dynasty; 
and  some  extracts  from  the  records  of  Thutmose  III 's  cam- 
paigns in  Syria.  Of  the  other  monuments  of  incidental 
character,  but  the  merest  fraction  has  survived.  Under 
these  circumstances  we  shall  probably  never  be  able  to  offer 
more  than  a  sketch  of  the  civilization  of  the  Old  and  Middle 
Kingdoms,  with  a  hazy  outline  of  the  general  drift  of  events. 
Under  the  Empire  the  available  documents,  both  in  quality 
and  quantity  for  the  first  time  approach  the  minimum,  which 
in  European  history  would  be  regarded  as  adequate  to  a 
moderately  full  presentation  of  the  career  of  the  nation. 
Scores  of  important  questions,  however,  still  remain  unan- 
swered, in  whatever  direction  we  turn.  Nevertheless  a 
rough  frame-work  of  the  governmental  organization,  the 
constitution  of  society,  the  most  important  achievements  of 
the  emperors,  and  to  a  limited  extent  the  spirit  of  the  age, 
may  be  discerned  and  sketched  in  the  main  outlines,  even 
though  it  is  only  here  and  there  that  the  sources  enable  us 
to  fill  in  the  detail.  In  the  Decadence  and  the  Restoration, 
however,  the  same  paucity  of  documents,  so  painfully  appar- 
ent in  the  older  periods,  again  leaves  the  historian  with  a 
long  series  of  hypotheses  and  probabilities.  For  the  reserve 
with  which  the  author  has  constantly  treated  such  periods, 
he  begs  the  reader  to  hold  the  scanty  sources  responsible. 

*See  Fig.  29  and  I.  76-  167. 


CHAPTER  III 


EAELIEST  EGYPT 

On  the  now  bare  and  windswept  desert  plateau,  through 
which  the  Nile  has  hollowed  its  channel,  there  once  dwelt  a 
race  of  men.  Plenteous  rains,  now  no  longer  known  there, 
rendered  it  a  fertile  and  productive  region.  The  geological 
changes  which  have  since  made  the  country  almost  rainless, 
denuded  it  of  vegetation  and  soil,  and  made  it  for  the  most 
part  uninhabitable,  took  place  many  thousands  of  years 
before  the  beginning  of  the  Egyptian  civilization,  which  we 
are  to  study;  but  the  prehistoric  race,  who  before  these 
changes,  peopled  the  plateau,  left  behind  them  as  the  sole 
memorial  of  their  existence  vast  numbers  of  rude  flint  imple- 
ments, now  lying  scattered  about  upon  the  surface  of  the 
present  desert  exposed  by  the  denudation.  These  men  of 
the  paleolithic  age  were  the  first  inhabitants  of  whom  we 
have  any  knowledge  in  Egypt.  They  can  not  be  connected 
in  any  way  with  the  historic  or  prehistoric  civilization  of 
the  Egyptians,  and  they  fall  exclusively  within  the  province 
of  the  geologist  and  anthropologist. 

The  forefathers  of  the  people  with  whom  we  shall  have 
to  deal  were  related  to  the  Libyans  or  north  Africans  on  the 
one  hand,  and  on  the  other  to  the  peoples  of  eastern  Africa, 
now  known  as  the  Galla,  Somali,  Bega  and  other  tribes.  An 
invasion  of  the  Nile  valley  by  Semitic  nomads  of  Asia, 
stamped  its  essential  character  unmistakably  upon  the  lan- 
guage of  the  African  people  there.  The  earliest  strata  of 
the  Egyptian  language  accessible  to  us,  betray  clearly  thb 
composite  origin.  While  still  coloured  by  its  African  ante- 
cedents, the  language  is  in  structure  Semitic.  It  is  more- 
over a  completed  product  as  observable  in  our  earliest  pre- 
served examples  of  it ;  but  the  fusion  of  the  Libyans  and 

25 


26 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


east  Africans  with  the  Nile  valley  peoples  continued  far  into 
historic  times,  and  in  the  case  of  the  Libyans  may  be  traced 
in  ancient  historical  documents  for  three  thousand  years  or 
more.  The  Semitic  immigration  from  Asia,  examples  of 
which  are  also  observable  in  the  historic  age,  occurred  in  an 
epoch  that  lies  far  below  our  remotest  historical  horizon. 
We  shall  never  be  able  to  determine  when,  nor  with  cer- 
tainty through  what  channels  it  took  place,  although  the 
most  probable  route  is  that  along  which  we  may  observe  a 
similar  influx  from  the  deserts  of  Arabia  in  historic  times, 
the  isthmus  of  Suez,  by  which  the  Mohammedan  invasion 
entered  the  country.  While  the  Semitic  language  which 
they  brought  with  them,  left  its  indelible  impress  upon  the 
old  Nile  valley  people,  the  nomadic  life  of  the  desert  which 
the  invaders  left  behind  them,  evidently  was  not  so  persis- 
tent, and  the  religion  of  Egypt,  that  element  of  life  which 
always  receives  the  stamp  of  its  environment,  shows  no  trace 
of  desert  life.  The  affinities  observable  in  the  language  are 
confirmed  in  case  of  the  Libyans,  by  the  surviving  products 
of  archaic  civilization  in  the  Nile  valley,  such  as  some  of  the 
early  pottery,  which  closely  resembles  that  still  made  by  the 
Libyan  Kabyles.  Again  the  representations  of  the  early 
Puntites,  or  Somali  people,  on  the  Egyptian  monuments, 
show  striking  resemblances  to  the  Egyptians  themselves. 
The  examination  of  the  bodies  exhumed  from  archaic  burials 
in  the  Nile  valley,  which  we  had  hoped  might  bring  further 
evidence  for  the  settlement  of  the  problem,  has,  however, 
produced  such  diversity  of  opinion  among  the  physical 
anthropologists,  as  to  render  it  impossible  for  the  historian 
to  obtain  decisive  results  from  their  researches.  The  conclu- 
sion once  maintained  by  some  historians,  that  the  Egyptian 
was  of  African  negro  origin,  is  now  refuted;  and  evidently 
indicated  that  at  most  he  may  have  been  slightly  tinctured 
with  negro  blood,  in  addition  to  the  other  ethnic  elements 
already  mentioned. 

As  found  in  the  earliest  burials  to-day,  the  predynastic 
Egyptians  were  a  dark-haired  people,  already  possessed  of 


EARLIEST  EGYPT 


27 


the  rudiments  of  civili- 
zation. The  men  wore  a 
skin  over  the  shoulders, 
sometimes  skin  drawers, 
and  again  only  a  short 
white  linen  kilt;  while 
the  women  were  clothed 
in  long  garments  of 
some  textile,  probably 
linen,  reaching  from  the 
shoulders  to  the  ankles. 
Statuettes  of  both  sexes 
without  clothing  what- 
ever are,  however,  very 
common.  Sandals  were 
not  unknown.  They  oc- 
casionally tattooed  their 
bodies,  and  they  also 
wrought  ornaments  such 
as  rings,  bracelets  and 
pendants  of  stone,  ivory 
and  bone ;  with  beads  of 
flint,  quartz,  carnelian, 
agate  and  the  like.  The 
women  dressed  their 
hair  with  ornamented 
ivory  combs  and  pins. 
For  the  eye-  and  face- 
paint  necessary  for  the 
toilet,  they  had  palettes 
of  carved  slate  on  which 
the  green  colour  was 
ground.  They  were  able 
to  build  dwellings  of 
wattle, sometimes  smear- 
ed with  mud,  and  prob- 
ably later  of  sun-dried 


28 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


brick.  In  the  furnishing  of  these  houses  they  displayed  con- 
siderable mechanical  skill,  and  a  rudimentary  artistic  taste. 
They  ate  with  ivory  spoons,  sometimes  even  richly  carved  with 
figures  of  animals  in  the  round,  marching  along  the  handle. 
Although  the  wheel  was  at  first  unknown  to  them,  they  pro- 
duced fine  pottery  of  the  most  varied  forms  in  vast  quan- 
tities. The  museums  of  Europe  and  America  are  now  filled 
with  their  polished  red  and  black  ware,  or  a  variety  with  in- 
cised geometrical  designs,  sometimes  in  basket  patterns,  while 
another  style  of  great  importance  to  us  is  painted  with  rude 
representations  of  boats,  men,  animals,  birds,  fish  or  trees 
(Fig.  11).  While  they  made  no  objects  of  glass,  they  under- 
stood the  art  of  glazing  beads,  plaques  and  the  like.  Crude 
statuettes  in  wood,  ivory,  or  stone,  represent  the  beginnings 
of  that  plastic  art,  which  was  to  achieve  such  triumphs  in 
the  early  dynastic  age;  and  three  large  stone  statues  of 
Min,  found  by  Petrie  at  Coptos,  display  the  rude  strength 
of  the  predynastic  civilization  of  which  we  are  now  speak- 
ing. The  art  of  the  prolific  potter  was  obliged  to  give  way 
slowly  to  the  artificer  in  stone,  who  finally  produced  excel- 
lent stone  vessels,  which  he  gradually  improved  toward  the 
end  of  predynastic  period,  when  his  bowls  and  jars  in  the 
hardest  stones,  like  the  diorites  and  porphyries,  display  mag- 
nificent work.  The  most  cunningly  wrought  flints  that  have 
ever  been  found  among  any  people  belong  to  this  age.  The 
makers  were  ultimately  able  to  affix  carved  ivory  hafts,  and 
with  equal  skill  they  put  together  stone  and  flint  axes,  flint- 
headed  fish-spears  and  the  like.  The  war  mace  with  pear- 
shaped  head,  as  found  also  in  Babylonia,  is  characteristic  of 
the  age.  Side  by  side  with  such  weapons  and  implements 
they  also  produced  and  used  weapons  and  implements  of 
copper.  It  is  indeed  the  age  of  the  slow  transition  from 
stone  to  copper.  Gold,  silver  and  lead,  while  rare,  were 
in  use. 

In  the  fruitful  Nile  valley  we  can  not  think  of  such 
a  people  as  other  than  chiefly  agricultural;  and  the  fact 
that  they  emerge  into  historical  times  as  agriculturalists, 


30 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


with  an  ancient  religion  of  vastly  remote  prehistoric  origin, 
whose  symbols  and  outward  manifestations  clearly  betray 
the  primitive  fancies  of  an  agricultural  and  pastoral  peo- 
ple—all this  would  lead  to  the  same  conclusion.  In  the 
unsubdued  jungles  of  the  Nile,  animal  life  was  of  course 
much  more  plentiful  at  that  time  than  now;  for  example, 
the  great  quantities  of  ivory  employed  by  this  people,  and 
the  representations  upon  their  pottery,  show  that  the 
elephant  was  still  among  them;  likewise  the  giraffe,  the 
hippopotamus  and  the  strange  okapi,  which  was  deified  as 
the  god  Set,  wandered  through  the  jungles,  though  all  these 
animals  were  later  extinct.  These  early  men  were  therefore 
great  hunters,  as  well  as  skillful  fishermen.  They  pursued 
the  most  formidable  game  of  the  desert,  like  the  lion,  or 
the  wild  ox  with  bows  and  arrows;  and  in  light  boats  they 
attacked  the  hippopotamus  and  the  crocodile  with  harpoons 
and  lances.  They  commemorated  these  and  like  deeds  in 
rude  graffiti  on  the  rocks,  which  are  still  found  in  the  Nile 
valley,  covered  with  a  heavy  brown  patina  of  weathering, 
such  as  historic  sculptures  never  display ;  thus  showing  their 
vast  age. 

Their  industries  may  have  resulted  in  rudimentary  com- 
merce, for  besides  their  small  hunting-boats  they  built  vessels 
of  considerable  size  on  the  Nile,  apparently  propelled  by 
many  oars  and  guided  by  a  large  rudder.  Sailing  ships 
were  rare,  but  they  were  not  unknown.  Their  vessels  bore 
standards,  probably  indicating  the  place  from  which  each 
hailed,  for  among  them  appear  what  may  be  the  crossed 
arrows  of  the  goddess  Neit  of  Sais,  while  an  elephant  imme- 
diately suggests  the  later  Elephantine,  which  may,  even 
before  the  extinction  of  the  elephant  in  Egypt,  have  been 
known  for  the  great  quantities  of  ivory  from  the  south 
marketed  there.  These  ensigns  are,  in  some  cases,  strikingly 
similar  to  those  later  employed  in  hieroglyphic  as  the  stan- 
dards of  the  local  communities,  and  their  presence  on  the 
early  ships  suggests  the  existence  of  such  communities  in 
those  prehistoric  days.    Hence  traces  of  these  prehistoric 


Pig.  10.— PR  ED  YN  AS  TIC  POTTERY  WITH  INCISED  DECORATION. 
(Photograph  by  Petrie. ) 


EARLIEST  EGYPT 


31 


petty  states  should  perhaps  be  recognized  in  the  said  admin- 
istrative or  feudal  divisions  of  the  country  in  historic  times, 
the  nomes,  as  the  Greeks  called  them,  to  which  we  shall  often 
have  occasion  to  refer.  If  this  be  true,  there  were  probably 
some  twenty  such  states  distributed  along  the  river  in  Upper 
Egypt.  However  this  may  be,  these  people  were  already  at  a 
stage  of  civilization  where  considerable  towns  appear  and 
city-states,  as  in  Babylon,  must  have  developed,  each  with  its 
chief  or  dynast,  its  local  god,  worshipped  in  a  crude  sanc- 
tuary ;  and  its  market  to  which  the  tributary,  outlying  coun- 
try was  attracted.  The  long  process  by  which  such  commu- 
nities grew  up  can  be  only  surmised  from  the  analogy  of 
similar  developments  elsewhere,  but  the  small  kingdoms  and 
city-states,  out  of  which  the  nation  was  ultimately  consoli- 
dated, do  not  fall  within  the  historic  age,  as  in  Babylon. 

The  gradual  fusion  which  finally  merged  these  petty  states 
into  two  kingdoms:  one  in  the  Delta,  and  the  other  com- 
prising the  states  of  the  valley  above,  is  likewise  a  process 
of  which  we  shall  never  know  the  course.  Of  its  heroes 
and  its  conquerors,  its  wars  and  conquests,  not  an  echo  will 
ever  reach  us;  nor  is  there  the  slightest  indication  of  the 
length  of  time  consumed  by  this  process.  It  will  hardly 
have  been  concluded,  however,  before  4000  B.  C.  Our 
knowledge  of  the  two  kingdoms  which  emerged  at  the  end 
of  this  long  prehistoric  age,  is  but  slightly  more  satisfactory. 
The  Delta  was,  throughout  the  historic  age,  open  to  inroads 
of  the  Libyans  who  dwelt  upon  the  west  of  it;  and  the 
constant  influx  of  people  from  this  source  gave  the  western 
Delta  a  distinctly  Libyan  character  which  it  preserved  even 
down  to  the  time  of  Herodotus.  At  the  earliest  moment 
when  the  monuments  enable  us  to  discern  the  conditions  in 
the  Delta,  the  Pharaoh  is  contending  with  the  Libyan 
invaders,  and  the  earlier  kingdom  of  the  North  will  there- 
fore have  been  strongly  Libyan,  if  indeed  it  did  not  owe  its 
origin  to  this  source.  The  temple  at  Sais,  in  the  western 
Delta,  the  chief  centre  of  Libyan  influence  in  Egypt,  bore 
the  name  " House  of  the  King  of  Lower  Egypt''  (the  Delta), 


32 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


and  the  emblem  of  Neit,  its  chief  goddess  was  tattooed  by 
the  Libyans  upon  their  arms.  It  may  possibly  therefore 
have  been  an  early  residence  of  a  Libyan  king  of  the  Delta. 
Reliefs  recently  discovered  in  Sahure's  pyramid-temple 
at  Abusir  show  four  Libyan  chiefs  wearing  on  their  brows 
the  royal  urasus  serpent  of  the  Pharaohs,  to  whom  it  there- 
fore descended  from  some  such  early  Libyan  king  of  the 
Delta.  As  its  coat  of  arms  or  symbol  the  Northern  Kingdom 
employed  a  tuft  of  papyrus  plant,  which  grew  so  plentifully 
in  its  marshes  as  Co  be  distinctive  of  it.  The  king  himself  was 
designated  by  a  bee,  and  wore  upon  his  head  a  red  crown, 
both  in  colour  and  shape  peculiar  to  his  kingdom.  All  of 
these  symbols  are  very  common  in  later  hieroglyphic.  Red 
was  the  distinctive  colour  of  the  northern  kingdom  and  its 
treasury  was  called  the  "Red  House. " 

Unfortunately  the  Delta  is  so  deeply  overlaid  with  deposits 
of  Nile  mud,  that  the  material  remains  of  its  earliest  civili- 
zation are  buried  forever  from  our  reach.  That  civiliza- 
tion was  probably  earlier  and  more  advanced  than  that  of 
the  valley  above.  Already  in  the  forty  third  century  B.  C. 
the  men  of  the  Delta  had  discovered  the  year  of  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty  five  days  and  they  introduced  a  calendar 
year  of  this  length  beginning  on  the  day  when  Sirius  rose 
at  sunrise,  as  determined  in  the  latitude  of  the  southern 
Delta,  where  these  earliest  astronomers  lived,  in  4241  B.  C. 
It  is  the  civilization  of  the  Delta,  therefore,  which  furnishes 
us  with  the  earliest  fixed  date  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
The  invention  and  introduction  of  this  calendar  is  surprising 
evidence  of  the  advanced  culture  of  the  age  and  locality  to 
which  it  belongs.  No  nation  of  antiquity,  from  the  earliest 
times  through  classic  European  history,  was  able  to  devise 
a  calendar  which  should  evade  the  inconvenience  resulting 
from  the  fact  that  the  lunar  month  and  the  solar  year  are 
incommensurable  quantities,  the  lunar  months  being  incon- 
stant and  also  not  evenly  dividing  the  solar  year.  This 
earliest  known  calendar,  with  an  amazingly  practical  insight 
into  the  needs  to  be  subserved  by  a  calendar,  abandoned  the 


EARLIEST  EGYPT 


33 


lunar  month  altogether  and  substituted  for  it  a  conventional 
month  of  thirty  days.  Its  devisers  were  thus  the  first  people 
to  perceive  that  a  calendar  must  be  an  artificial  device,  en- 
tirely divorced  from  nature  save  in  the  acceptance  of  the  day 
and  the  year.  They  therefore  divided  the  year  into  twelve  of 
these  thirty  day  months,  and  a  sacred  period  of  five  feast- 
days,  intercalated  at  the  end  of  the  year.  The  year  began 
on  that  day  when  Sirius  first  appeared  on  the  eastern  horizon 
at  sunrise,  which  in  our  calendar  was  on  the  nineteenth  of 
July.1  But  as  this  calendar  year  was  in  reality  about  a 
quarter  of  a  day  shorter  than  the  solar  year,  it  therefore 
gained  a  full  day  every  four  years,  thus  slowly  revolving 
on  the  astronomical  year,  passing  entirely  around  it  once  in 
fourteen  hundred  and  sixty  years,  only  to  begin  the  revolu- 
tion again.  An  astronomical  event  like  the  heliacal  rising 
of  Sirius,  when  dated  in  terms  of  the  Egyptian  calendar, 
may  therefore  be  computed  and  dated  within  four  years  in 
terms  of  our  reckoning,  that  is,  in  years  B.  C.  This  remark- 
able calendar,  already  in  use  at  this  remote  age,  is  the  one 
introduced  into  Rome  by  Julius  Caesar,  as  the  most  con- 
venient calendar  then  known,  and  by  the  Romans  it  was 
bequeathed  to  us.  It  has  thus  been  in  use  uninterruptedly 
over  six  thousand  years.  We  owe  it  to  the  men  of  the 
Delta  kingdom,  who  lived  in  the  forty  third  century  B.  C. ; 
and  we  should  notice  that  it  left  their  hands  in  much  more 
convenient  form,  with  its  twelve  thirty-day  months,  than 
after  it  had  suffered  irregular  alteration  in  this  respect  at 
the  hands  of  the  Romans. 

The  kingdom  of  Upper  Egypt  was  more  distinctively 
Egyptian  than  that  of  the  Delta.  It  had  its  capital  at 
Nekheb,  modern  El  Kab,  and  its  standard  or  symbol  was 
a  lily  plant,  while  another  southern  plant  served  as  the 
ensign  of  the  king,  who  was  further  distinguished  by  a  tall 
white  crown,  white  being  the  colour  of  the  Southern  Kingdom. 
Its  treasury  was  therefore  known  as  the  " White  House.' ' 
There  was  a  royal  residence  across  the  river  from  Nekheb, 
called  Nekhen,  the  later  Hieraconpolis.  while  corresponding 

3  1  Julian. 


34 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


to  it  in  the  northern  kingdom  was  a  suburb  of  Buto,  called 
Pe.  Each  capital  had  its  patroness  or  protecting  goddess: 
Buto,  the  serpent-goddess,  in  the  North;  and  in  the  South 
the  vulture-goddess,  Nekhbet.  But  at  both  capitals  the 
hawk-god  Horus  was  worshipped  as  the  distinctive  patron 
deity  of  both  kings.  The  people  of  the  time  believed  in  a 
life  hereafter,  subject  to  wants  of  the  same  nature  as  those 
of  the  present  life.  Their  cemeteries  are  widely  distributed 
along  the  margin  of  the  desert  in  Upper  Egypt,  and  of  late 
years  thousands  of  interments  have  been  excavated.  The 
tomb  is  usually  a  flat  bottomed  oval  or  rectangular  pit,  in 
which  the  body,  doubled  into  the  ' 1  contracted "  or  ' '  embry- 
onic "  posture,  lies  on  its 
side  (Fig.  12).  In  the 
earliest  burials  it  is  wrap- 
ped in  a  skin,  but  later 
also  in  woven  fabric; 
there  is  no  trace  of  em- 
balmment. Beneath  the 
body  is  frequently  a  mat 
of  plaited  rushes ;  it  often 
has  in  the  hand  or  at  the 
breast  a  slate  palette  for 
grinding  face-paint,  the 
green  malachite  for  which 
lies  near  in  a  small  bag. 
The  body  is  besides  ac- 
companied by  other  arti- 
cles of  toilet  or  of  adorn- 
ment and  is  surrounded  by  jars  of  pottery  or  stone  con- 
taining ash  or  organic  matter,  the  remains  of  food,  drink 
and  ointment  for  the  deceased  in  the  hereafter.  Not  only 
were  the  toilet  and  other  bodily  wants  of  the  deceased  thus 
provided  for,  but  he  was  also  given  his  flint  weapons  or 
bone  tipped  harpoons  that  he  might  replenish  his  larder 
from  the  chase.  Clay  models  of  objects  which  he  might 
need  were  also  given  him,  especially  boats.    The  pits  are 


Fig.  12.    A  Pkedyxastic  Grave. 


Fig.  14— ALABASTER  VESSELS. 
First  Dynasty.    (Petrie,  Royal  Tot>il>s.) 


Fig.  15— CHAIR  LEGS,  CARVED  IVORY.  Fig.  16.— COPPER  VESSELS. 


Early  Dynasties.    Berlin  Museum.  First  Dynasty.   (Petrie.  Royal  Tombs.) 


EARLIEST  EGYPT 


35 


sometimes  roughly  roofed  over  with  branches,  covered  with 
a  heap  of  desert  sand  and  gravel,  forming  rudimentary 
tombs,  and  later  they  came  to  be  lined  with  crude,  sun- 
dried  brick.  Sometimes  a  huge,  roughly  hemispherical  bowl 
of  pottery  was  inverted  over  the  body  as  it  lay  in  the  pit. 
These  burials  furnish  the  sole  contemporary  material  for 
our  study  of  the  predynastic  age.  The  gods  of  the  here- 
after were  appealed  to  in  prayers  and  magical  formulae, 
which  eventually  took  conventional  and  traditional  form  in 
writing.  A  thousand  years  later  in  the  dynastic  age  frag- 
ments of  these  mortuary  texts  are  found  in  use  in  the  pyra- 
mids of  the  Fifth  and  Sixth  Dynasties.  Pepi  I,  a  king  of 
the  Sixth  Dynasty,  in  his  rebuilding  of  the  Dendereh  temple, 
claimed  to  be  reproducing  a  plan  of  a  sanctuary  of  the  pre- 
dynastic kings  on  that  spot.  Temples  of  some  sort  they 
therefore  evidently  had. 

While  they  thus  early  possessed  all  the  rudiments  of 
material  culture,  the  people  of  this  age  developed  a  system 
of  writing  also.  The  computations  necessary  for  the  dis- 
covery and  use  of  the  calendar  show  a  use  of  writing  in  the 
last  centuries  of  the  fifth  millennium  B.  C.  It  is  shown  also 
by  the  fact  that  nearly  a  thousand  years  later  the  scribes  of 
the  Fifth  Dynasty  were  able  to  copy  a  long  list  of  the  kings 
of  the  North,  and  perhaps  those  of  the  South  also  (Fig.  29) ; 
while  the  mortuary  texts  to  which  we  have  referred  will  not 
have  survived  a  thousand  years  without  having  been  com- 
mitted to  writing  in  the  same  way.  The  hieroglyphs  for  the 
Northern  Kingdom,  for  its  king,  and  for  its  treasury  can  not 
have  arisen  at  one  stroke  with  the  first  king  of  the  dynastic 
age;  but  must  have  been  in  use  long  before  the  rise  of  the 
First  Dynasty;  while  the  presence  of  a  cursive  linear  hand 
at  the  beginning  of  the  dynasties  is  conclusive  evidence  that 
the  system  was  not  then  a  recent  innovation. 

Of  the  deeds  of  these  remote  kings  of  the  North  and  South, 
who  passed  away  before  three  thousand  four  hundred  B.  C. 
we  know  nothing.  Their  tombs  have  never  been  discovered, 
a  fact  which  accounts  for  the  lack  of  any  written  monuments 


36 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


among  the  contemporary  documents,  all  of  which  come  from 
tombs  of  the  poorer  classes,  such  as  contain  no  writing  even 
in  the  dynastic  age.  Seven  names  of  the  kings  of  the  Delta, 
like  Seka,  Khayu,  or  Thesh,  alone  of  all  the  line  have  sur- 
vived; but  of  the  southern  kingdom  not  even  a  royal  name 
has  descended  to  us,  unless  it  be  that  of  the  Scorpion,  which, 
occurring  on  some  few  remains  of  this  early  age,  has  been 
conjectured  to  be  that  of  one  of  the  powerful  chieftains  of  the 
South.1  The  scribes  of  the  Fifth  Dynasty  who  drew  up  this 
list  of  kings,  some  eight  hundred  years  after  the  line  had 
passed  away,  seem  to  have  known  only  the  royal  names,  and 
were  unable  to,  or  at  least  did  not  record,  any  of  their 
achievements.2  As  a  class  these  kings  of  the  North  and 
South  were  known  to  their  posterity  as  the  "worshippers  of 
Horus ' ' ;  and  as  ages  passed  they  became  half  mythic  figures, 
gradually  to  be  endowed  with  semi-divine  attributes,  until 
they  were  regarded  as  the  demi-gods  who  succeeded  the 
divine  dynasties,  the  great  gods  who  had  ruled  Egypt  in  the 
beginning.  Their  original  character  as  deceased  kings,  as 
known  to  the  earlier  dynasties,  led  to  their  being  considered 
especially  as  a  line  of  the  divine  Dead,  who  had  ruled  over 
the  land  before  the  accession  of  human  kings ;  and  in  the  his- 
torical work  of  Manetho  they  appear  simply  as  6  '  the  Dead. ' 9 
Thus  their  real  historical  character  was  finally  completely 
sublimated,  then  to  merge  into  unsubstantial  myth,  and  the 
ancient  kings  of  the  North  and  the  South  were  worshipped 
in  the  capitals  where  they  had  once  ruled. 

The  next  step  in  the  long  and  slow  evolution  of  national 
unity  was  the  union  of  the  North  and  South.  The  tradition 
which  was  still  current  in  the  days  of  the  Greeks  in  Egypt,  to 
the  effect  that  the  two  kingdoms  were  united  by  a  king 
named  Menes,  is  fully  confirmed  by  the  evidence  of  the  early 
monuments.  The  figure  of  Menes,  but  a  few  years  since 
as  vague  and  elusive  as  those  of  the  "worshippers  of  Horus,' ' 
who  preceded  him,  has  now  been  clothed  with  unmistakable 

Another  possibly  on  the  Palermo  Stone  and  in  the  tomb  of  Methen;  see 
I,  166.  2 1,  90. 


Fig.  18.-THE  KING  BREAKS  GROUND  FOR 
A  NEW  CANAL. 

Jbarly  Dynasties.  (From  Quibell,  Hieraconpolis,  I,  26c,  4.) 


Fig.  19.— MAGNIFICENT  CARVED  CEREMONIAL  PALETTE  OF  SLATE. 

Dedicated  by  King  Narmer  (First  Dynasty)  in  the  temple  of  Hieraconpolis.    See  pp.  40  and  47. 
(Quibell,  Hieraconpolis,  I,  29.) 


EARLIEST  EGYPT 


37 


reality,  and  he  at  last  steps  forth  into  history  to  head  the 
long  line  of  Pharaohs,  who  have  yet  to  pass  us  in  review. 
It  must  have  been  a  skilful  warrior  and  a  vigourous  admin- 
istrator, who  thus  gathered  the  resources  of  the  Southern 
Kingdom  so  well  in  hand  that  he  was  able  to  invade  and 
conquer  the  Delta,  and  thus  merge  the  two  kingdoms  into 
one  nation,  completing  the  long  process  of  centralization 
which  had  been  going  on  for  many  centuries.  His  native 
city  was  Thinis,  an  obscure  place  in  the  vicinity  of  Abydos, 
which  was  not  near  enough  to  the  centre  of  his  new  kingdom 
to  serve  as  his  residence,  and  we  can  easily  credit  the  nar- 
rative of  Herodotus  that  he  built  a  great  dam,  diverting  the 
course  of  the  Nile  above  the  site  of  Memphis  that  he  might 
gain  room  there  for  a  city.  This  stronghold,  perhaps  not  yet 
called  Memphis,  was  probably  known  as  the  "White  Wall," 
in  reference  of  course  to  the  White  Kingdom,  whose  power  it 
represented.  If  we  may  believe  the  tradition  of  Herodotus ' 
time,  it  was  from  this  place,  situated  so  favourably  on  the 
border  between  the  two  kingdoms,  that  Menes  probably  gov- 
erned the  new  nation  which  he  had  created.  He  carried  his 
arms  also  southward  against  northern  Nubia,1  which  then  ex- 
tended below  the  first  cataract  as  far  northward  as  the  nome 
of  Edfu.  According  to  the  tradition  of  Manetho,  he  was 
blessed  with  a  long  reign,  and  the  memory  of  his  great 
achievement  was  imperishable,  as  we  have  seen.  He  was 
buried  in  Upper  Egypt,  either  at  Abydos  near  his  native 
Thinis,  or  some  distance  above  it  near  the  modern  village 
of  Negadeh,  where  a  large  brick  tomb,  probably  his,  still 
survives.  In  it  and  similar  tombs  of  his  successors  at 
Abydos,  written  monuments  of  his  reign  have  been  found, 
and  the  reader  may  see  in  the  accompanying  illustration, 
even  a  piece  of  his  royal  adornments,  bearing  his  name,  which 
this  ancient  founder  of  the  Egyptian  state  wore  upon  his 
person  (Fig.  13). 

The  kings  of  this  remote  protodynastic  age  are  no  longer 
merely  a  series  of  names  as  but  a  few  years  since  they  still 

1  Newberry-Garstang,  History,  20  (from  unpublished  evidence?). 


38 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


were.  As  a  group  at  least,  we  know  much  of  their  life  and 
its  surroundings ;  although  we  shall  never  be  able  to  discern 
them  as  possessed  of  distinguishable  personality.  They 
blend  together  without  distinction  as  children  of  their  age. 
The  outward  insignia  which  all  alike  employed  were  now 
accommodated  to  the  united  kingdom.  The  king's  favourite 
title  was  "Horus,"  by  which  he  identified  himself  as  the 
successor  of  the  great  god,  who  had  once  ruled  over  the 
kingdom.  Everywhere,  on  royal  documents,  seals  and  the 
like,  appeared  the  Horus-hawk  as  the  symbol  of  royalty.  He 
was  mounted  upon  a  rectangle  representing  the  facade  of  a 
building,  probably  the  king's  palace,  within  which  was 
written  the  king's  official  name.  The  other  or  personal 
name  of  the  ruler  was  preceded  by  the  bee  of  the  North 
and  the  plant  of  the  southern  king,  to  indicate  that  he  had 
now  absorbed  both  titles;  while  with  these  two  symbols 
there  often  appeared  also  Nekhbet,  the  vulture-goddess  of 
El  Kab,  the  southern  capital,  side  by  side  with  Buto,  the 
serpent-goddess  of  the  northern  capital.  On  the  sculptures 
of  the  time,  the  protecting  vulture  hovers  with  outspread 
wings  over  the  head  of  the  king,  but  as  he  felt  himself 
still  as  primarily  king  of  Upper  Egypt,  it  was  not  until 
later  that  he  wore  the  serpent  of  the  North,  the  sacred 
uraeus  upon  his  forehead.  Similarly  Set  sometimes  appears 
with  Horus,  preceding  the  king's  personal  name,  the  two 
gods  thus  representing  the  North  and  the  South,  dividing 
the  land  between  them  in  accordance  with  the  myth  which 
we  shall  later  have  occasion  to  discuss.  The  monarch  wore 
the  crown  of  either  kingdom,  and  he  is  often  spoken  of  as 
the  "double  lord."  Thus  his  dominion  over  a  united  Egypt 
was  constantly  proclaimed.  We  see  the  king  on  ceremonious 
occasions  appearing  in  some  state,  preceded  by  four  stan- 
dard-bearers and  accompanied  by  his  chancellor,  personal 
attendants,  or  a  scribe,  and  two  fan-bearers.  He  wore  the 
white  crown  of  Upper  or  the  red  crown  of  Lower  Egypt,  or 
even  a  curious  combination  of  the  crowns  of  both  kingdoms, 
and  a  simple  garment  suspended  by  a  strap  over  one 


Fig.  20  -PORTRAIT  HEAD  OF  KING 
KHASEKHEM;  FROM  TWO  DIF- 
FERENT ANGLES. 
Early  Dynasties  (Quibell,  Hierac.,  I,  39). 


Fig.  21- -STATUE  OF  KING  KHASEKHEM. 
HEAD  IN  FIG.  20. 
Early  Dynasties  (ibid.).    See  translation,  p.  47. 


T  -im  grtitr 


Fig.  22.— BRICK-LINED   WOODEN    FLOORED   TOMB    CHAMBER   OF  KING 

ENEZIB. 

(First  Dynasty,  Abydos.    From  Petrie,  Royal  'lotnbs,  I,  66,  1.) 


EARLIEST  EGYPT 


39 


shoulder,  to  which  a  lion's  tail  was  appended  behind.  So 
dressed  and  so  attended  he  conducted  triumphant  celebra- 
tions of  his  victories,  or  led  the  ceremonies  at  the  opening  of 
canals  (Fig.  18),  or  the  inauguration  of  public  works.  On 
the  thirtieth  anniversary  of  his  appointment  by  his  father  as 
crown-prince  to  the  heirship  of  the  kingdom,  the  king  cele- 
brated a  great  jubilee  called  the  "  Feast  of  Sed,"  a  word 
meaning  "tail,"  and  perhaps  commemorating  his  assump- 
tion of  the  royal  lion's  tail  at  his  appointment  thirty  years 
before.  He  was  a  mighty  hunter,  and  recorded  with  pride 
an  achievement  like  the  slaying  of  a  hippopotamus.  His 
veapons  were  costly  and  elaborate  as  we  shall  see.  His  sev- 
eral palaces  each  bore  a  name,  and  the  royal  estate  possessed 
gardens  and  vineyards,  the  latter  being  also  named  and 
carefully  administered  by  officials  who  were  responsible  for 
the  income  therefrom.  The  furniture  of  such  a  palace,  even 
in  this  remote  age  was  magnificent  and  of  fine  artistic 
quality.  Among  it  were  vessels  exquisitely  wrought  in  some 
eighteen  or  twenty  different  varieties  of  stone,  especially 
alabaster  (Fig.  14) ;  even  in  such  refractory  material  as 
diorite,  superb  bowls  were  ground  to  translucent  thinness, 
and  jars  of  rock  crystal  were  carved  with  matchless  precision 
to  represent  natural  objects.  The  pottery,  on  the  other  hand, 
perhaps  because  of  the  perfection  of  the  stone  vessels,  is 
inferior  to  that  of  the  predynastic  age.  The  less  substantial 
furniture  has  for  the  most  part  perished,  but  chests  of  ebony 
inlaid  with  ivory  and  stools  with  legs  of  ivory  magnificently 
carved  to  represent  bull's  legs  (Fig.  15),  have  survived  in 
fragments.  Glaze  was  now  more  thoroughly  mastered  than 
before,  and  incrustation  with  glazed  plaques  and  ivory 
tablets  was  practiced.  The  coppersmith  furnished  the  pal- 
ace with  finely  wrought  bowls,  ewers  and  other  vessels  of 
copper  (Fig.  16) ;  while  he  materially  aided  in  the  perfec- 
tion of  stone  vase-making  by  the  production  of  excellent 
copper  tools.  The  goldsmith  combined  with  a  high  degree 
of  technical  skill  also  exquisite  taste,  and  produced  for  the 
king's  person  and  for  the  ladies  of  the  royal  household  mag- 


40 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


nificent  regalia  in  gold  and  precious  stones  (Figs.  13,  17),1 
involving  the  most  delicate  soldering  of  the  metal,  a  process 
accomplished  with  a  skill  of  which  even  a  modern  workman 
would  not  be  ashamed.  While  the  products  of  the  industrial 
craftsman  had  thus  risen  to  a  point  of  excellence,  such  that 
they  claim  a  place  as  works  of  art,  we  find  that  the  rude 
carvings  and  drawings  of  the  predynastic  people  have  now 
developed  into  reliefs  and  statues  which  clearly  betray  the 
professional  artist.  The  kings  dedicated  in  the  temples, 
especially  in  that  of  Horus  at  Hieraconpolis,  ceremonial 
slate  palettes,  maces  and  vessels,  bearing  reliefs  which  dis- 
play a  sure  and  practiced  hand  (Fig.  19). 2  The  human  and 
animal  figures  are  done  with  surprising  freedom  and  vigour, 
proclaiming  an  art  long  since  conscious  of  itself  and  cen- 
turies removed  from  the  naive  efforts  of  a  primitive  people. 
By  the  time  of  the  Third  Dynasty  the  conventions  of  civi- 
lized life  had  laid  a  heavy  hand  upon  this  art ;  and  although 
finish  and  power  of  faithful  delineation  had  reached  a  level 
far  surpassing  that  of  the  Hieraconpolis  slates,  the  old 
freedom  had  disappeared.  In  the  astonishing  statues  of 
king  Khasekhem  at  Hieraconpolis  (Figs.  20-21),  the  rigid 
canons  which  ruled  the  art  of  the  Old  Kingdom  are  already 
clearly  discernible. 

The  wreck  of  all  this  splendour,  amid  which  these  antique 
kings  lived,  has  been  rescued  by  Petrie  with  the  most  con- 
scientious and  arduous  devotion,  from  their  tombs  at  Abydos. 
These  tombs  are  the  result  of  a  natural  evolution  from  the 
pits  in  which  the  predynastic  people  buried  their  dead.  The 

1  The  bracelets  of  Fig.  17  are  of  amethyst  and  turquoise  mounted  in  gold. 
The  uppermost  has  a  rosette  of  gold,  of  exquisite  workmanship.  The  purpose 
of  the  gold  bar  (Fig.  13)  is  unknown. 

2  Fig.  19  shows  both  sides  of  the  greatest  of  these  palettes.  In  the  top 
row  (left)  the  king,  followed  by  his  sandal  bearer  and  preceded  by  four 
standard  bearers  and  his  vizier,  inspects  the  decapitated  bodies  of  his  fallen 
enemies.  The  middle  row  contains  two  fantastic  animals  of  uncertain 
meaning,  and  in  the  bottom  row,  the  king  as  a  bull,  breaches  a  walled  city, 
and  tramples  down  his  enemy.  The  other  side  (right)  shows  the  king 
smiting  a  fallen  foe,  while  as  a  Horus  hawk  he  also  leads  captive  the  sign  of 
the  North,  bearing  a  head  with  the  rope  in  its  mouth.  At  the  bottom  are 
fallen  foes. 


EARLIEST  EGYPT 


41 


pit  has  now  been  elaborated  and  enlarged  and  has  become 
rectangular.  It  is  brick  lined  and  also  frequently  has  a 
second  lining  of  wood;  while  the  surrounding  jars  of  food 
and  drink  have  developed  into  a  series  of  small  chambers 
surrounding  the  central  room  or  pit,  in  which  doubtless  the 
body  lay,  although  the  tombs  had  been  so  often  plundered 
and  wasted  that  no  body  has  ever  been  found  in  them  (Figs, 
22-25).  The  whole  was  roofed  with  heavy  timbers  and 
planking,  probably  surmounted  by  a  heap  of  sand,  and  on 
the  east  front  were  set  up  two  tall  narrow  stelae  bearing 
the  king's  name.  Access  to  the  central  chamber  was  had 
by  a  brick  stairway  descending  through  one  side  (Fig.  23). 
The  king's  toilet  furniture,  a  rich  equipment  of  bowls,  jars 
and  vessels,  metal  vases  and  ewers,  his  personal  ornaments, 
and  all  that  was  necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  royal  state 
in  the  hereafter  were  deposited  with  his  body  in  this  tomb; 
while  the  smaller  surrounding  chambers  were  filled  with  a 
liberal  supply  of  food  and  wine  in  enormous  pottery  jars, 
sealed  with  huge  cones  of  Nile  mud  mixed  with  straw,  and 
impressed  while  soft  with  the  name  of  the  king,  or  of  the 
estate  or  vineyard  from  which  they  came.  The  revenue  in 
food  and  wine  from  certain  of  the  king's  estates  was  diverted 
and  established  as  permanent  income  of  the  tomb  to  maintain 
for  all  time  the  table  supply  of  the  deceased  king  and  of  his 
household  and  adherents,  whose  tombs  to  the  number  of  one 
or  two  hundred  were  grouped  about  his  own.  Thus  he  was 
surrounded  in  death  by  those  who  had  been  his  companions 
in  life;  his  women,  his  body-guard,  and  even  the  dwarf, 
whose  dances  had  diverted  his  idle  hours,  all  sleep  beside 
their  lord  that  he  may  continue  in  the  hereafter  the  state 
with  which  he  had  been  environed  on  earth.  Thus  early 
began  the  elaborate  arrangements  of  the  Egyptian  upper 
classes  for  the  proper  maintenance  of  the  deceased  in  the 
life  hereafter. 

This  desire  to  create  a  permanent  abiding  place  for  the 
royal  dead  exerted  a  powerful  influence  in  the  development 
of  the  art  of  building.    Already  in  the  First  Dynasty  we  find 


42 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


a  granite  floor  in  one  of  the  royal  tombs,  that  of  Usephais, 
and  toward  the  end  of  the  Second  Dynasty  the  surrounding 
brick  chambers  of  king  Khasekhemui 's  tomb  enclose  a 
chamber  built  of  hewn  limestone,  the  earliest  stone  masonry 
structure  known  in  the  history  of  man  (Fig.  25).  His  pred- 
ecessor, probably  his  father,  had  already  built  a  stone  temple 
which  he  recorded  as  a  matter  of  note,1  and  Khasekhemui 
himself  built  a  temple  at  Hieraconpolis,  of  which  a  granite 
doorpost  has  survived. 

Such  works  of  the  skilled  artificer  and  builder  (for  a 
number  of  royal  architects  were  already  attached  to  the 
court)  indicate  a  well-ordered  and  highly  organized  state; 
but  of  its  character  little  can  be  discerned  from  the  scanty 
materials  at  our  command.  The  king's  chief  assistant  and 
minister  in  government  seems  to  have  been  a  chancellor, 
whom  we  have  seen  attending  him  on  state  occasions.  The 
officials  whom  we  later  find  as  nobles  with  judicial  functions, 
attached  to  the  two  royal  residences  of  the  North  and  South, 
Pe  and  Nekhen,  already  existed  under  these  earliest  dynas- 
ties, indicating  an  organized  administration  of  judicial  and 
juridical  affairs.  There  was  a  body  of  fiscal  officials,  whose 
seals  we  find  upon  payments  of  naturalia  to  the  royal  tombs, 
impressed  upon  the  clay  jar-sealings ;  while  a  fragment  of 
a  scribe's  accounts  evidently  belonging  to  such  an  adminis- 
tration, was  found  in  the  Abydos  royal  tombs.  The  endow- 
ment of  these  tombs  with  a  regularly  paid  income  clearly 
indicates  an  orderly  and  effective  fiscal  organization,  of 
which  several  offices,  like  the  "provision  office,"  are  men- 
tioned on  the  seals.  This  department  of  the  state  was  but 
a  union  of  the  two  treasuries  of  the  old  kingdoms  of  the 
North  and  South,  the  "Red  House"  and  the  "White 
House";  hence  we  find  among  the  seals  in  the  royal  tombs 
the  "Vineyard  of  the  Red  House  of  the  King's  Estate." 
Evidently  the  union  of  the  two  kingdoms  consisted  only  in 
the  person  of  the  king.  The  "Red  House,"  however,  soon 
disappeared,  the  double  administration  became  one  of  termi- 
ni, 134. 


Fig.  27.    Ebony  Tablet  of  Menes,  First  Dynasty,  Abydos,  3400  B.  C. 

One  of  the  earliest  known  examples  of  hieroglyphics.  Top  row:  At  the 
left  the  royal  hawk  of  Menes;  on  the  right  a  chapel  with  the  symbols  of  the 
goddess  Xeit  in  the  court,  over  which  is  a  boat.  Second  row:  At  the  left  the 
king  holds  a  vessel  marked  "  Electrum "  (silver-gold  alloy),  and  offers  a 
libation  "4  times";  on  the  right  a  bull  is  caught  in  an  enclosure  before  a 
shrine  bearing  a  phoenix.  Third  row:  The  Nile  with  boats,  towns,  and 
islands.     Fourth  row:  Unintelligible  archaic  hieroglyphs. 


Fig.  28.  King  Semerkhet.    (First  Dynasty. )    Smites  the  Beduin  of  Sinai. 

Relief  on  the  rocks  of  the  Wadi  Maghara,  Sinai,  the  earliest  monument 
there,  and  the  earliest  known  large  sculpture.    (From  Weill,  Sinai.) 

(43) 


44 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


nology  and  theory  only,  and  the  '  'White  House' '  of  the 
southern  kingdom  survived  throughout  Egyptian  history  as 
the  sole  treasury  of  the  united  kingdom.  This  history  of 
the  early  treasury  is  instructive  as  showing  that  the  amalga- 
mation of  the  administrative  machinery  of  the  two  kingdoms 
was  a  slow  process  which  Menes  was  unable  to  completeo 
In  all  probability  the  land  all  belonged  to  the  estate  of  the 
king,  by  whom  it  was  entrusted  to  a  noble  class.  There  were 
large  estates  conducted  by  these  nobles,  as  in  the  period 
which  immediately  followed;  but  on  what  terms  they  were 
held  we  can  not  now  determine.  The  people,  with  the  pos- 
sible exception  of  a  free  class  of  artificers  and  tradesmen, 
will  have  been  slaves  on  these  estates.  They  lived  also  in 
cities  protected  by  heavy  walls  of  sun-dried  brick,  and  under 
the  command  of  a  local  governor.  The  chief  cities  of  the 
time  were  the  two  capitals,  El  Kab  and  Buto,  with  their 
royal  suburbs  of  Nekhen  or  Hieraconpolis,  and  Pe;  the 
' 4 White  Wall,"  the  predecessor  of  Memphis;  Thinis,  the 
native  city  of  the  first  two  dynasties;  the  neighbouring 
Abydos ;  Heliopolis,  Heracleopolis  and  Sais ;  while  a  number 
of  less  importance  appear  in  the  Third  Dynasty. 

Every  two  years  a  "numbering''  of  the  royal  possessions 
was  made  throughout  the  land  by  the  officials  of  the  treas- 
ury, and  these  ' '  numberings "  served  as  a  partial  basis  for 
the  chronological  reckoning.  The  years  of  a  king's  reign 
were  called,  "Year  of  the  First  Numbering,"  "Year  after 
the  First  Numbering,"  "Year  of  the  Second  Numbering" 
and  so  on.  An  earlier  method  was  to  name  the  year  after 
some  important  event  which  occurred  in  it,  thus:  "Year  of 
Smiting  the  Troglodytes,"  a  method  found  also  in  early 
Babylonia.  But  as  the  "numberings"  finally  became  an- 
nual, they  formed  a  more  convenient  basis  for  designating  the 
year,  as  habit  seemed  to  have  deterred  the  scribes  from  num- 
bering the  years  themselves.  Side  by  side  with  this  official 
year,  there  was  doubtless  a  civil  year  which  followed  the  sea- 
sons, and  the  lunar  months  continued  to  be  the  basis  of  tem- 
ple payments  and  of  many  business  transactions,  although 


EARLIEST  EGYPT 


45 


it  is  not  probable  that  a  lunar  year  had  ever  existed.  Such 
a  system  of  government  and  administration  as  this  of  course 
could  not  operate  without  a  method  of  writing,  which  we  find 
in  use  both  in  elaborate  hieroglyphics  (Fig.  27)  and  in  the 
rapid  cursive  hand  of  the  accounting  scribe.  It  already  pos- 
sessed not  only  phonetic  signs  representing  a  whole  syllable 
or  group  of  consonants  but  also  the  alphabetic  signs,  each 
of  which  stood  for  one  consonant;  true  alphabetic  letters 
having  thus  been  discovered  in  Egypt  two  thousand  five 
hundred  years  before  their  use  by  any  other  people.  Had 
the  Egyptian  been  less  a  creature  of  habit,  he  might  have 
discarded  his  syllabic  signs  3,500  years  before  Christ,  and 
have  written  with  an  alphabet  of  twenty  four  letters.  In 
the  documents  of  these  early  dynasties  the  writing  is  in  such 
an  archaic  form  that  many  of  the  scanty  fragments  which 
we  possess  from  this  age  are  as  yet  unintelligible  to  us. 
Yet  it  was  the  medium  of  recording  medical  and  religious 
texts,  to  which  in  later  times  a  peculiar  sanctity  and  effect- 
iveness were  attributed.  The  chief  events  of  each  year  were 
also  recorded  in  a  few  lines  under  its  name,  and  a  series  of 
annals  covering  every  year  of  a  king's  reign  and  showing 
to  a  day  how  long  he  reigned,  was  thus  produced.  A  small 
fragment  only  of  these  annals  has  escaped  destruction,  the 
now  famous  Palermo  Stone,1  so  called  because  it  is  at  present 
in  the  museum  of  Palermo  (Fig.  29). 2 

Already  a  state  form  of  religion  was  developing,  and  it 
is  this  form  alone  of  which  we  know  anything;  the  religion 
of  the  people  having  left  little  or  no  trace.  Even  in  the 
later  dynasties  we  shall  find  little  to  say  of  the  folk-religion, 
which  was  rarely  a  matter  of  permanent  record.  The  royal 
temple  of  Menes's  time  was  still  a  simple  structure,  being 
little  more  than  a  shrine  or  chapel  of  wood,  with  walls  of 

1I,  76-167. 

2  The  front  of  the  fragment  is  shown  in  Fig.  29.  After  the  first  row,  each 
rectangle  contains  a  year,  and  in  the  space  over  each  row,  was  written  the 
name  of  the  king  to  whom  the  row  of  years  belonged.  The  front  contained 
the  predynastic  kings  (top  row)  and  dynasties  one  to  three;  the  rest  extending 
into  the  Fifth  Dynasty  was  on  the  back. 


46 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


plaited  wattle  (Fig.  27).  There  was  an  enclosed  court  before 
it,  containing  a  symbol  or  emblem  of  the  god  mounted  on  a 
standard ;  and  in  front  of  the  enclosure  was  a  pair  of  poles, 
perhaps  the  forerunners  of  the  pair  of  stone  obelisks  which  in 
historic  times  were  erected  at  the  entrance  of  a  temple.  By 
the  second  half  of  the  Second  Dynasty,  however,  stone  tem- 
ples were  built,1  as  we  have  seen.  The  kings  frequently 
record  in  their  annals2  the  draughting  of  a  temple  plan,  or 
their  superintendence  of  the  ceremonious  inauguration  of 
the  work  when  the  ground  was  measured  and  broken.  The 
great  gods  were  those  familiar  in  later  times,  whom  we  shall 
yet  have  occasion  briefly  to  discuss ;  we  notice  particularly 
Osiris  and  Set,  Horus  and  Anubis,  Thoth,  Sokar,  Min,  and 
Apis  a  form  of  Ptah;  while  among  the  goddesses,  Hathor 
and  Neit  are  very  prominent.  Several  of  these,  like  Horus, 
were  evidently  the  patron  gods  of  prehistoric  kingdoms,  pre- 
ceding the  kingdoms  of  the  North  and  South,  and  thus  going 
back  to  a  very  distant  age.  Horus,  as  under  the  predynastic 
kings,  was  the  greatest  god  of  the  united  kingdom,  and  occu- 
pied the  position  later  held  by  Re.  His  temple  at  Hiera- 
conpolis  was  especially  favoured,  and  an  old  feast  in  his 
honour,  called  the i  c  Worship  of  Horus, ' '  celebrated  every  two 
years,  is  regularly  recorded  in  the  royal  annals  (Fig.  29). 2 
The  kings  therefore  continued  without  interruption  the  tra- 
ditions of  the  ' '  Worshippers  of  Horus, ' '  as  the  successors  of 
whom  they  regarded  themselves.  As  long  as  the  royal  suc- 
cession continued  in  the  Thinite  family  the  worship  of  Horus 
was  carefully  observed;  but  with  the  ascendancy  of  the 
Third  Dynasty,  a  Memphite  family,  it  gradually  gave  way 
and  was  neglected.  The  priestly  office  was  maintained  of 
course  as  in  the  Old  Kingdom  by  laymen,  who  were  divided, 
as  later,  into  four  orders  or  phyles. 

The  more  than  four  hundred  years  during  which  the  first 
two  dynasties  ruled  must  have  been  a  period  of  constant 
and  vigourous  growth.  Of  the  seven  kings  of  Menes's  line, 
who  followed  him  during  the  first  two  centuries  of  that  devel- 

lI,  134.  2 1,  91-167 


Fig.  29.-THE  PALERMO  STONE. 
Fragment  of  a  copy  of  the  annals  of  the  earliest  kings,  from  predynastic  times  to  the  middle  of  the  Fifth  Dynasty, 
when  the  copy  was  made.    See  pp.  35,  36,  109. 


EARLIEST  EGYPT 


47 


opnient,  we  can  identify  only  two  with  certainty:  Miebis 
and  Usephais ;  but  we  have  contemporary  monuments  from 
twelve  of  the  eighteen  kings  who  ruled  during  this  period. 
The  first  difficulty  which  confronted  them  was  the  reconcilia- 
tion of  the  Northern  Kingdom  and  its  complete  fusion  with 
the  larger  nation.  We  have  seen  how,  in  administration,  the 
two  kingdoms  remained  distinct,  and  hinted  that  the  union 
was  a  merely  personal  bond.  The  kings  on  ascending  the 
throne  celebrated  a  feast  called  ' ' Union  of  the  Two  Lands,"1 
by  which  the  first  year  of  each  king's  reign  was  character- 
ized and  named.  This  union,  thus  shown  to  be  so  fresh  in 
their  minds,  could  not  at  first  be  made  effectual.  The  North 
rebelled  again  and  again.  King  Narmer,  who  probably 
lived  near  the  beginning  of  the  dynastic  age,  was  obliged 
to  punish  the  rebellious  Libyan  nomes  in  the  western  Delta. 
He  took  captives  to  the  number  of  i  *  one  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand,' '  which  deed  must  have  involved  the  deportation 
of  a  whole  district,  whence  he  also  plundered  no  less  than 
"one  million  four  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  small,  and 
four  hundred  thousand  large  cattle. ' '  In  the  temple  at  Hiera- 
conpolis  he  left  a  magnificent  slate  palette  (Fig.  19)  accom- 
panied by  a  ceremonial  mace-head,  both  of  which  bear  scenes 
commemorating  his  victory.  Later  king  Neterimu  smote  the 
northern  cities  of  Shemre  and  "House  of  the  North."2  As 
late  as  the  Third  Dynasty  a  war  with  the  North  gave  king 
Khasekhem  occasion  to  name  a  year  of  his  reign  the  "Year 
of  Fighting  and  Smiting  the  North,"  a  war  in  which  he 
took  captive  "forty  seven  thousand  two  hundred  and  nine 
rebels."  He  likewise  commemorated  his  victory  in  the 
temple  of  Horus  at  Hieraconpolis,  dedicating  there  a  great 
alabaster  vase3  bearing  his  name  and  that  of  the  triumphant 
year,  besides  two  remarkable  statues4  (Figs.  20-21)  of  him- 
self, inscribed  with  the  number  of  the  captives.  The  later 
mythology  attributed  a  lasting  reconciliation  of  the  two  king- 
doms to  Osiris.5 


lI,  140.  2 1,  124. 

4  Ibid.,  pi.  XXXIX-XLI. 


8  Hierac.  I,  pi.  XXXVI-VHI. 
«  Louvre  Stela  C.  2. 


48 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


While  the  severe  methods  employed  against  the  North 
must  have  seriously  crippled  its  economic  prosperity,  that 
of  the  nation  as  a  whole  probably  continued  to  increase. 
The  kings  were  constantly  laying  out  new  estates  and  build- 
ing new  palaces,  temples  and  strongholds.  Public  works, 
like  the  opening  of  irrigation  canals  (Fig.  18)  or  the  wall 
of  Menes  above  Memphis,  show  their  solicitude  for  the  eco- 
nomic resources  of  the  kingdom,  as  well  as  a  skill  in  engi- 
neering and  a  high  conception  of  government  such  as  we 
can  not  but  greatly  admire  in  an  age  so  remote.  They  were 
able  also  to  undertake  the  earliest  enterprises  of  which 
we  know  in  foreign  lands.  King  Semerkhet,  early  in  the 
dynastic  age,  and  probably  during  the  First  Dynasty,  car- 
ried on  mining  operations  in  the  copper  regions  of  the 
Sinaitic  peninsula,  in  the  Wadi  Maghara.  His  expedition 
was  exposed  to  the  depredations  of  the  wild  tribes  of 
Beduin,  who  already  in  this  remote  age,  peopled  those  dis- 
tricts; and  he  recorded  his  punishment  of  them  in  a  relief 
upon  the  rocks  of  the  Wadi  (Fig.  28). 1  Usephais,  of  the 
First  Dynasty,  must  have  conducted  similar  operations 
there;  for  he  has  left  a  memorial  of  his  victory  over  the 
same  tribes  in  a  scene  carved  upon  an  ivory  tablet,  showing 
him  striking  down  a  native  whom  he  has  forced  to  the  knees 
(Fig.  26).  It  is  accompanied  by  the  inscription:  4 4 First 
occurrence  of  smiting  the  Easterners."  This  designation 
of  the  event  as  the  "first  occurrence' '  would  indicate  that  it 
was  a  customary  thing  for  the  kings  of  the  time  to  chastise 
these  barbarians,  and  that  therefore  he  was  expecting  a 
"second  occurrence, ' ■  as  a  matter  of  course.  A  "smiting 
of  the  Troglodytes,"  the  same  people,  recorded  on  the  Pa- 
lermo Stone2  in  the  First  Dynasty,  doubtless  falls  in  the 
reign  of  king  Miebis.  Indeed  there  are  indications  that  the 
kings  of  this  time  maintained  foreign  relations  with  far 
remoter  peoples.  In  their  tombs  have  been  found  fragments 
of  a  peculiar,  non-Egyptian  pottery,  closely  resembling  the 

»  Weill,  Rev.  Arch.,  1903,  II,  p.  2S1 ;  and  Recueil  des  Inscr.  Egypt,  du 
Sinai,  p.  96.  2 1.,  104. 


EARLIEST  EGYPT 


49 


ornamented  .^gean  ware  produced  by  the  island  peoples 
of  the  northern  Mediterranean  in  pre-Mycenaean  times.  If 
this  pottery  was  placed  in  these  tombs  at  the  time  of  the 
original  burials,  there  were  commercial  relations  between 
Egypt  and  the  northern  Mediterranean  peoples  in  the  fourth 
millennium  before  Christ.  Besides  the  aggressive  foreign 
policy  in  the  east,  and  this  foreign  connection  in  the  north, 
we  find  that  an  occasional  campaign  was  necessary  to 
restrain  the  Libyans  on  the  west.  In  the  temple  at  Hiera- 
conpolis  Narmer  left  an  ivory  cylinder1  commemorating  his 
victory  over  them,  an  event  which  is  doubtless  to  be  con- 
nected with  the  same  king's  chastisement  of  the  Libyan 
nomes  in  the  western  Delta,  to  which  we  have  already 
adverted.  In  the  south  at  the  first  cataract,  where,  as  late 
as  the  Sixth  Dynasty,  the  Troglodyte  tribes  of  the  neigh- 
bouring eastern  desert  made  it  dangerous  to  operate  the  quar- 
ries there,  king  Usephais  of  the  First  Dynasty  was  able  to 
maintain  an  expedition  for  the  purpose  of  securing  granite 
to  pave  one  of  the  chambers  of  his  tomb  at  Abydos. 

Thus  this  strong  Thinite  line  gradually  built  up  a  vig- 
orous nation  of  rich  and  prolific  culture  and  consolidated  its 
power  within  and  without.  Scanty  as  are  its  surviving  mon- 
uments, we  see  now  gradually  taking  form  the  great  state 
which  is  soon  to  emerge  as  the  Old  Kingdom.  These  earliest 
Pharaohs  were  buried,  as  we  have  seen,  at  Abydos  or  in  the 
vicinity,  where  nine  of  their  tombs  are  known.  A  thousand 
years  after  they  had  passed  away,  these  tombs  of  the 
founders  of  the  kingdom  were  neglected  and  forgotten,  and 
as  early  as  the  twentieth  century  before  Christ  that  of  king 
Zer  was  mistaken  for  the  tomb  of  Osiris.2  When  found  in 
modern  times  it  was  buried  under  a  mountain  of  potsherds, 
the  remains  of  votive  offerings  left  there  bv  centuries  of 
Osiris-worshippers.  Its  rightful  occupants  had  long  been 
torn  from  their  resting  places,  and  their  limbs,  heavy  with 
gold  and  precious  stones,  had  been  wrenched  from  the 
sockets  to  be  carried  away  by  greedy  violators  of  the  dead. 

i  Hierac.  I,  pi.  XV,  No.  7.  « I,  662. 

4 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


It  was  on  <5ome  such  occasion  that  one  of  these  thieves 
secreted  in  a  hole  in  the  wall  of  the  tomb  the  desiccated  arm 
of  Zer's  queen,  still  bearing  under  the  close  wrappings  its 
splendid  regalia  (Fig.  17).  Perhaps  slain  in  some  brawl, 
the  robber,  fortunately  for  us,  never  returned  to  recover  his 
plunder,  and  it  was  found  there  and  brought  to  Petrie  intact 
by  his  well  trained  workmen  in  1902. 


BOOK  II 
THE  OLD  KINGDOM 


CHAPTER  IV 

EAKLY  RELIGION 

There  is  no  force  in  the  life  of  ancient  man,  the  influence 
of  which  so  pervades  all  his  activities  as  does  that  of  the 
religious  faculty.  Its  fancies  explain  for  him  the  world 
about  him,  its  fears  are  his  hourly  master,  its  hopes  his  con- 
stant Mentor,  its  feasts  are  his  calendar,  and  its  outward 
usages  are  to  a  large  extent  the  education  and  the  motive 
toward  the  gradual  evolution  of  art,  literature  and  science. 
As  among  all  other  early  peoples,  it  was  in  his  surroundings 
that  the  Egyptian  saw  his  gods.  The  trees  and  springs,  the 
stones  and  hill-tops,  the  birds  and  beasts  were  creatures  like 
himself,  or  possessed  of  strange  and  uncanny  powers  of 
which  he  was  not  master.  Among  this  host  of  spirits  ani- 
mating everything  around  him,  some  were  his  friends,  ready 
to  be  propitiated  and  to  lend  him  their  aid  and  protection; 
while  others  with  craft  and  cunning  lowered  about  his  path- 
way, awaiting  an  opportunity  to  strike  him  with  disease  and 
pestilence,  and  there  was  no  misfortune  in  the  course  of 
nature  but  found  explanation  in  his  mind  as  coming  from 
one  of  these  evil  beings  about  him.  Such  spirits  as  these 
were  local,  each  known  only  to  the  dwellers  in  a  given 
locality,  and  the  efforts  to  serve  and  propitiate  them  were  of 
the  humblest  and  most  primitive  character.  Of  such  worship 
we  know  little  or  nothing  in  the  Old  Kingdom,  but  during 
the  Empire  we  shall  be  able  to  gain  fleeting  glimpses  into 
this  naive  and  long  forgotten  world.  But  the  Egyptian  peo- 
pled not  merely  the  local  circle  about  him  with  such  spirits ; 
the  sky  above  him  and  earth  beneath  his  feet  were  equally 
before  him  for  explanation.  Long  ages  of  confinement  to 
his  elongated  valley,  with  its  monotonous,  even  if  sometimes 

53 


54 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


grand  scenery,  had  imposed  a  limited  range  upon  his  imagi- 
nation; neither  had  he  the  qualities  of  mind  which  could 
be  stirred  by  the  world  of  nature  to  such  exquisite  fancies 
as  those  with  which  the  natural  beauties  of  Hellas  inspired 
the  imagination  of  the  Greeks.  In  the  remote  ages  of  that 
earliest  civilization,  which  we  have  briefly  surveyed  in  the 
preceding  chapter,  the  shepherds  and  plowmen  of  the  Nile 
valley  saw  in  the  heavens  a  vast  cow,  which  stood  athwart 
the  vault,  with  head  in  the  west,  the  earth  lying  between 
fore  and  hind  feet,  while  the  belly  of  the  animal,  studded 
with  stars,  was  the  arch  of  heaven.  The  people  of  another 
locality  however,  fancied  they  could  discern  a  colossal  female 
figure  standing  with  feet  in  the  east  and  bending  over  the 
earth,  till  she  supported  herself  upon  her  arms  in  the  far 
west.  To  others  the  sky  was  a  sea,  supported  high  above 
the  earth,  with  a  pillar  at  each  of  its  four  corners.  As  these 
fancies  gained  more  than  local  credence  and  came  into 
contact  with  each  other,  they  mingled  in  inextricable  con- 
fusion. The  sun  was  born  every  morning  as  a  calf  or  as  a 
child  according  to  the  explanation  of  the  heavens  as  a  cow 
or  a  woman,  and  he  sailed  across  the  sky  in  a  celestial 
barque,  to  arrive  in  the  west  and  descend  as  an  old  man  tot- 
tering into  the  grave.  Again  the  lofty  flight  of  the  hawk, 
which  seemed  a  very  comrade  of  the  sun,  led  them  to  believe 
that  the  sun  himself  must  be  such  a  hawk,  taking  his  daily 
flight  across  the  heavens,  and  the  sun-disk,  with  the  out- 
spread wings  of  the  hawk,  became  the  commonest  symbol 
of  their  religion. 

The  earth,  or  as  they  knew  it,  their  elongated  valley,  was 
to  their  primitive  fancy,  a  man  lying  prone,  upon  whose 
back  the  vegetation  grew,  the  beasts  moved  and  man  lived. 
If  the  sky  was  a  sea  upon  which  the  sun  and  the  heavenly 
lights  sailed  westward  every  day,  there  must  then  be  a  water- 
way by  which  they  could  return;  so  there  was  beneath  the 
earth  another  Nile,  flowing  through  a  long  dark  passage  with 
successive  caverns,  through  which  the  celestial  barque  took 
its  way  at  night,  to  appear  again  in  the  east  at  early  morn- 


I      I  I 


Fig.  30.    The  Celestial  Cow. 

Various  genii  support  her  limbs,  while  in  the  middle,  Shu,  the  god  of  the 
atmosphere  upholds  her.  Along  her  belly  which  forms  the  heavens,  and 
bears  the  stars,  moves  the  celestial  barque  of  the  sun-god,  who  wears  the  sun- 
disk  on  his  head. 


Fig.  31.    The  Goddess  of  the  Heavens. 

Her  body  is  studded  with  stars,  Shu,  the  god  of  the  air,  supports  her,  while 
prone  beneath  her  is  the  earth-god,  Keb. 

(55) 


56 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


ing.  This  subterranean  stream  was  connected  with  the  Nile 
at  the  first  cataract,  and  thence  issued  from  two  caverns, 
the  waters  of  their  life-giving  river.  It  will  be  seen  that 
for  the  people  among  whom  this  myth  arose,  the  world 
ended  at  the  first  cataract;  all  that  they  knew  beyond 
was  a  vast  sea.  This  was  also  connected  with  the  Nile 
in  the  south,  and  the  river  returned  to  it  in  the  north, 
for  this  sea,  which  they  called  the  1  'Great  Circle' n  sur- 
rounded their  earth.  It  is  the  idea  inherited  by  the  Greeks, 
who  called  the  sea  Okeanos,  or  Ocean.  In  the  beginning 
only  this  ocean  existed,  upon  which  there  then  appeared 
an  egg,  or  as  some  said  a  flower,  out  of  which  issued  the 
sun-god.  From  himself  he  begat  four  children,  Shu  and 
Tefnut,  Keb  and  Nut.  All  these,  with  their  father,  lay 
upon  the  ocean  of  chaos,  when  Shu  and  Tefnut,  who  repre- 
sent the  atmosphere,  thrust  themselves  between  Keb  and 
Nut.  They  planted  their  feet  upon  Keb  and  raised  Nut  on 
high,  so  that  Keb  became  the  earth  and  Nut  the  heavens. 
Keb  and  Nut  were  the  father  and  mother  of  the  four  divin- 
ities, Osiris  and  Isis,  Set  and  Nephthys;  together  they 
formed  with  their  primeval  father  the  sun-god,  a  circle  of 
nine  deities,  the  "ennead"  of  which  each  temple  later  pos- 
sessed a  local  form.  This  correlation  of  the  primitive  divin- 
ities as  father,  mother  and  son,  strongly  influenced  the 
theology  of  later  times  until  each  temple  possessed  an  arti- 
ficially created  triad,  of  purely  secondary  origin,  upon  which 
an  "ennead"  was  then  built  up.  Other  local  versions  of 
this  story  of  the  world's  origin  also  circulated.  One  of 
them  represents  Re  as  ruling  the  earth  for  a  time  as  king 
over  men,  who  plotted  against  him,  so  that  he  sent  a  god- 
dess, Hathor,  to  slay  them,  but  finally  repented  and  by  a 
ruse  succeeded  in  diverting  the  goddess  from  the  total  exter- 
mination of  the  human  race,  after  she  had  destroyed  them 
in  part.  The  cow  of  the  sky  then  raised  Re  upon  her  back 
that  he  might  forsake  the  ungrateful  earth  and  dwell  in 
heaven. 
*n,  cel. 


EARLY  RELIGION  57 


Fig.  32.    The  Celestial  Babque  of  the  Sun-god. 


The  ram-headed  god,  wearing  the  sun-disk  is  enthroned  in  a  chapel;  the 
ibis-headed  Thoth,  his  vizier,  stands  in  the  royal  presence  and  addresses  him 
like  an  earthly  king. 


Fig.  33.    Restoration  of  a  Group  of  Old  Kingdom  "  Mastabas,"  or 
Masonby  Tombs.     (After  Perrot-Chipiez.) 

The  door  of  the  chapel  is  visible  in  front,  and  on  the  roof  may  be  seen  the 
top  of  the  shaft  which  descends  through  the  superstructure  to  the  subter- 
ranean sepulchre  chamber  containing  the  mummy. 


58 


EARLY  RELIGION 


Besides  these  gods  of  the  earth,  the  air  and  the  heavens, 
there  were  also  those  who  had  as  their  domain  the  nether 
world,  the  gloomy  passage,  along  which  the  subterranean 
stream  carried  the  sun  from  west  to  east.  Here,  according 
to  a  very  early  belief,  dwelt  the  dead,  whose  king  was  Osiris. 
He  had  succeeded  the.  sun-god  as  king  on  earth,  aided  in 
his  government  by  his  faithful  sister-wife,  Isis.  A  bene- 
factor of  men,  and  beloved  as  a  righteous  ruler,  he  was 
nevertheless  craftily  misled  and  slain  by  his  brother  Set. 
When,  after  great  tribulation,  Isis  had  gained  possession 
of  her  lord's  body,  she  was  assisted  in  preparing  it  for  burial 
by  one  of  the  old  gods  of  the  nether  world,  Anubis,  the 
jackal-god,  who  thereafter  became  the  god  of  embalmment. 
So  powerful  were  the  charms  now  uttered  by  Isis  over  the 
body  of  her  dead  husband  that  it  was  reanimated,  and 
regained  the  use  of  its  limbs;  and  although  it  was  impos- 
sible for  the  departed  god  to  resume  his  earthly  life,  he 
passed  down  in  triumph  as  a  living  king,  to  become  lord  of 
the  nether  world.  Isis  later  gave  birth  to  a  son,  Horus, 
whom  she  secretly  reared  among  the  marshy  fastnesses  of 
the  Delta  as  the  avenger  of  his  father.  Grown  to  manhood, 
the  youth  pursued  Set  and  in  the  ensuing  awful  battle, 
which  raged  from  end  to  end  of  the  land,  both  were  fear- 
fully mutilated.  But  Set  was  defeated,  and  Horus  tri- 
umphantly assumed  the  earthly  throne  of  his  father.  There- 
upon Set  entered  the  tribunal  of  the  gods,  and  charged  that 
the  birth  of  Horus  was  not  without  stain,  and  that  his  claim 
to  the  throne  was  not  valid.  Defended  by  Thoth,  the  god 
of  letters,  Horus  was  vindicated  and  declared  "true  in 
speech,' '  or  ' ' triumphant. ' '  According  to  another  version 
it  was  Osiris  himself  who  was  thus  vindicated. 

Not  all  the  gods  who  appear  in  these  tales  and  fancies 
became  more  than  mythological  figures.  Many  of  them  con- 
tinued merely  in  this  role,  without  temple  or  form  of  wor- 
ship; they  had  but  a  folk-lore  or  finally  a  theological  exist- 
ence. Others  became  the  great  gods  of  Egypt.  In  a  land 
where  a  clear  sky  prevailed  and  rain  was  rarely  seen,  the 


EARLY  RELIGION 


59 


incessant  splendour  of  the  sun  was  an  insistent  fact,  which 
gave  him  the  highest  place  in  the  thought  and  daily  life  of 
the  people.  His  worship  was  almost  universal,  but  the  chief 
centre  of  his  cult  was  at  On,  the  Delta  city,  which  the  Greeks 
called  Heliopolis.  Here  he  was  known  as  Re,  which  was  the 
solar  orb  itself ;  or  as  Atum,  the  name  of  the  decrepit  sun, 
as  an  old  man  tottering  down  the  west;  again  his  name 
Khepri,  written  with  a  beetle  in  hieroglyphic,  designated  him 
in  the  youthful  vigour  of  his  rising.  He  had  two  barques 
with  which  he  sailed  across  the  heavens,  one  for  the  morning 
and  the  other  for  the  afternoon,  and  when  in  this  barque  he 
entered  the  nether  world  to  return  to  the  east  he  brought 
light  and  joy  to  its  disembodied  denizens.  The  symbol  of 
his  presence  in  the  temple  at  Heliopolis  was  an  obelisk,  while 
at  Edfu,  on  the  upper  river,  which  was  also  an  old  centre 
of  his  worship,  he  appeared  as  a  hawk,  under  the  name 
Horus. 

The  Moon  as  the  measurer  of  time  furnished  the  god  of 
reckoning,  of  letters,  and  of  wisdom,  whose  chief  centre  was 
at  Shmun,  or  Hermopolis,  as  the  Greeks  who  identified  him 
with  Hermes,  called  the  place.  He  was  identified  with  the 
ibis.  The  Sky,  whom  we  have  seen  as  Nut,  was  worshipped 
throughout  the  land,  although  Nut  herself  continued  to  play 
only  a  mythological  role.  The  sky-goddess  became  the  type 
of  woman  and  of  woman's  love  and  joy.  At  the  ancient 
shrine  of  Dendereh  she  was  the  cow-goddess,  Hathor ;  at  Sais 
she  was  the  joyous  Neit;  at  Bubastis,  in  the  form  of  a  cat, 
she  appeared  as  Bast ;  while  at  Memphis  her  genial  aspects 
disappeared  and  she  became  a  lionness,  the  goddess  of  storm 
and  terror.  The  myth  of  Osiris,  so  human  in  its  incidents 
and  all  its  characteristics,  rapidly  induced  the  wide  propa- 
gation of  his  worship,  and  although  Isis  still  remained  chiefly 
a  figure  in  the  myth,  she  became  the  type  of  wife  and  mother, 
upon  which  the  people  loved  to  dwell.  Horus  also,  although 
he  really  belonged  originally  to  the  sun-myth  and  had 
nothing  to  do  with  Osiris,  was  for  the  people  the  embodi- 
ment of  the  qualities  of  a  good  son,  and  in  him  they  constantly 


60 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


saw  the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  just  cause.  The  immense 
influence  of  the  Osiris-worship  on  the  life  of  Egypt  we  shall 
have  occasion  to  notice  further  in  discussing  mortuary 
beliefs.  The  original  home  of  Osiris  was  at  Dedu,  called 
by  the  Greeks  Busiris,  in  the  Delta;  but  Abydos,  in  Upper 
Egypt,  early  gained  a  reputation  of  peculiar  sanctity, 
because  the  head  of  Osiris  was  buried  there.  He  always 
appeared  as  a  closely  swathed  figure,  enthroned  as  a 
Pharaoh  or  merely  a  curious  pillar,  a  fetish  surviving  from 
his  prehistoric  worship.  Into  the  circle  of  nature-divinities 
it  is  impossible  to  bring  Ptah  of  Memphis,  who  was  one  of 
the  early  and  great  gods  of  Egypt.  He  was  the  patron  of 
the  artisan,  the  artificer  and  artist,  and  his  High  Priest  was 
always  the  chief  artist  of  the  court.  Such  were  the  chief 
gods  of  Egypt,  although  many  another  important  deity  pre- 
sided in  this  or  that  temple,  whom  it  would  be  impossible 
for  us  to  notice  here,  even  with  a  word. 

The  external  manifestations  and  the  symbols  with  which 
the  Egyptian  clothed  these  gods  are  of  the  simplest  char- 
acter and  they  show  the  primitive  simplicity  of  the  age  in 
which  these  deities  arose.  They  bear  a  staff  like  a  Beduin 
native  of  to-day,  or  the  goddesses  wield  a  reed-stem;  their 
diadems  are  of  woven  reeds  or  a  pair  of  ostrich  feathers,  or 
the  horns  of  a  sheep.  In  such  an  age,  the  people  frequently 
saw  the  manifestations  of  their  gods  in  the  numerous  ani- 
mals with  which  they  were  surrounded,  and  the  veneration 
of  these  sacred  beasts  survived  into  an  age  of  high  civiliza- 
tion, when  we  should  have  expected  it  to  disappear.  But 
the  animal-worship,  which  we  usually  associate  with  ancient 
Egypt,  as  a  cult,  is  a  late  product,  brought  forward  in  the 
decline  of  the  nation  at  the  close  of  its  history.  In  the 
periods  with  which  we  shall  have  to  deal,  it  was  unknown; 
the  hawk,  for  example,  was  the  sacred  animal  of  the  sun-god, 
and  as  such  a  living  hawk  might  have  a  place  in  the  temple, 
where  he  was  fed  and  kindly  treated,  as  any  such  pet  might 
be ;  but  he  was  not  worshipped,  nor  was  he  the  object  of  an 
elaborate  ritual  as  later.1 

1  Irman,  Handbuch,  p.  25. 


EARLY  RELIGION 


61 


In  their  elongated  valley  the  local  beliefs  of  the  earliest 
Egyptians  could  not  but  differ  greatly  among  themselves, 
and  although  for  example  there  were  many  centres  of  sun- 
worship,  each  city  possessing  a  sun-temple  regarded  the  sun 
as  its  particular  god,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  the  rest;  just 
as  many  a  town  of  Italy  at  the  present  day  would  not  for  a 
moment  identify  its  particular  Madonna  with  the  virgin  of 
any  other  town.  As  commercial  and  administrative  inter- 
course were  increased  by  political  union,  these  mutually  con- 
tradictory and  incompatible  beliefs  could  not  longer  remain 
local.  They  fused  into  a  complex  of  tangled  myth,  of  which 
we  have-  already  offered  some  examples  and  shall  yet  see 
more.  Neither  did  the  theologizing  priesthoods  ever  reduce 
this  mass  of  belief  into  a  coherent  system;  it  remained  as 
accident  and  circumstance  brought  it  together,  a  chaos  of 
contradictions.  Another  result  of  national  life  was,  that  as 
soon  as  a  city  gained  political  supremacy  its  gods  rose  with 
it  to  the  dominant  place  among  the  innumerable  gods  of 
the  land. 

The  temples  in  which  the  earliest  Egyptian  worshipped 
we  have  already  had  occasion  to  notice.  He  conceived  the 
place  as  the  dwelling  of  his  god,  and  hence  its  arrangement 
probably  conformed  with  that  of  a  private  house  of  the  pre- 
dynastic  Egyptian.  We  have  seen  how  the  gradual  evolu- 
tion of  a  nation  has  left  the  prehistoric  temple  of  woven 
wattle  far  behind,  putting  in  its  place  at  last  a  structure  of 
stone  in  which  doubtless  the  main  features  of  the  primitive 
arrangement  survived.  It  was  still  the  house  of  the  god, 
although  the  Egyptian  himself  may  have  long  since  for- 
gotten its  origin.  Behind  a  forecourt  open  to  the  sky  rose 
a  colonnaded  hall,  beyond  which  was  a  series  of  small  cham- 
bers containing  the  furniture  and  implements  for  the  temple 
services.  Of  the  architecture  and  decoration  of  the  building 
we  shall  later  have  occasion  to  speak  further  (pp.  106  f.). 
The  centre  of  the  chambers  in  the  rear  was  occupied  by  a 
small  room,  the  holy  of  holies,  in  which  stood  a  shrine  hewn 
from  one  block  of  granite.  It  contained  the  image  of  the  god> 


62 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


a  small  figure  of  wood  from  one  and  a  half  to  six  feet  high, 
elaborately  adorned  and  splendid  with  gold,  silver  and  costly 
stones.  The  service  of  the  divinity  who  dwelt  here  consisted 
simply  in  furnishing  him  with  those  things  which  formed 
the  necessities  and  luxuries  of  an  Egyptian  of  wealth  and 
rank  at  that  time:  plentiful  food  and  drink,  fine  clothing, 
music  and  the  dance.  The  source  of  these  offerings  was  the 
income  from  an  endowment  of  lands  established  by  the 
throne,  as  well  as  various  contributions  from  the  royal  rev- 
enues in  grain,  wine,  oil,  honey  and  the  like.1  These  contribu- 
tions to  the  comfort  and  happiness  of  the  lord  of  the  temple, 
while  probably  originally  offered  without  ceremony,  gradually 
became  the  occasion  of  an  elaborate  ritual  which  was  essen- 
tially alike  in  all  temples.  Outside  in  the  forecourt  was  the 
great  altar,  where  the  people  gathered  on  feast  days,  when 
they  were  permitted  to  share  the  generous  food  offerings, 
which  ordinarily  were  eaten  by  the  priests  and  servants  of 
the  temple,  after  they  had  been  presented  to  the  god.  These 
feasts,  besides  those  marking  times  and  seasons,  were  fre- 
quently commemorations  of  some  important  event  in  the 
story  or  myth  of  the  god,  and  on  such  occasions  the  priests 
brought  forth  the  image  in  a  portable  shrine,  having  the 
form  of  a  small  Nile  boat. 

The  earliest  priesthood  was  but  an  incident  in  the  duties 
of  the  local  noble,  who  was  the  head  of  the  priests  in  the 
community;  but  the  exalted  position  of  the  Pharaoh  as  the 
nation  developed,  made  him  the  sole  official  servant  of  the 
gods,  and  there  arose  at  the  beginning  of  the  nation 's  his- 
tory a  state  form  of  religion,  in  which  the  Pharaoh  played 
the  supreme  role.  In  theory,  therefore,  it  was  he  alone  who 
worshipped  the  gods;  in  fact,  however,  he  was  of  necessity 
represented  in  each  of  the  many  temples  of  the  land  by  a 
high  priest,  by  whom  all  offerings  were  presented  "for  the 
sake  of  the  life,  prosperity  and  health"  of  the  Pharaoh. 
Some  of  these  high  priesthoods  were  of  very  ancient  origin : 
particularly  that  of  Heliopolis,  whose  incumbent  was  called 

*I,  153-167;  213. 


EARLY  RELIGION 


G3 


"Great  Seer";  while  he  of  Ptah  at  Memphis  was  called 
' '  Great  Chief  of  Artificers. ' '  Both  positions  demanded  two 
incumbents  at  once  and  were  usually  held  by  men  of  high 
rank.  The  incumbents  of  the  other  high  priesthoods  of 
later  origin  all  bore  the  simple  title  of  "overseer  or  chief 
of  priests.' '  It  was  the  duty  of  this  man  not  merely  to 
conduct  the  service  and  ritual  of  the  sanctuary,  but  also  to 
administer  its  endowment  of  lands,  from  the  income  of  which 
it  lived,  while  in  time  of  war  he  might  even  command  the 
temple  contingent.  He  was  assisted  by  a  body  of  priests, 
whose  sacerdotal  service  was  with  few  exceptions  merely 
incidental  to  their  worldly  occupations.  They  were  laymen, 
who  from  time  to  time  served  for  a  stated  period  in  the 
temple;  thus  in  spite  of  the  fiction  of  the  Pharaoh  as  the 
sole  worshipper  of  the  god,  the  layinen  were  represented  in 
its  service.  In  the  same  way  the  women  of  the  time  were 
commonly  priestesses  of  Neit  or  Hathor;  their  service  con- 
sisted in  nothing  more  than  dancing  and  jingling  a  sistrum 
before  the  god  on  festive  occasions.  The  state  fiction  had 
therefore  not  quite  suppressed  the  participation  of  the  indi- 
vidual, in  the  service  of  the  temple.  In  harmony  with  the 
conception  of  the  temple  as  the  god's  dwelling  the  most  fre- 
quent title  of  the  priest  was  "servant  of  the  god." 

Parallel  with  this  development  of  a  state  religion,  with  its 
elaborate  equipment  of  temple,  endowment,  priesthood  and 
ritual,  the  evolution  of  the  provision  for  the  dead  had  kept 
even  pace.  In  no  land,  ancient  or  modern,  has  there  ever 
been  such  attention  to  the  equipment  of  the  dead  for  their 
eternal  sojourn  in  the  hereafter.  The  beliefs  which  finally 
led  the  Egyptian  to  the  devotion  of  so  much  of  his  wealth 
and  time,  his  skill  and  energy  to  the  erection  and  equipment 
of  the  "eternal  house"  are  the  oldest  conceptions  of  a  real 
life  hereafter  of  which  we  know.  He  believed  that  the  body 
was  animated  by  a  vital  force,  which  he  pictured  as  a  coun- 
terpart of  the  body,  which  came  into  the  world  with  it, 
passed  through  life  in  its  company,  and  accompanied  it  into 
the  next  world.    This  he  called  a  "ka,"  and  it  is  often 


64 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


spoken  of  in  modern  treatises  as  a  "double,"  though  this 
designation  describes  the  form  of  the  ka  as  represented  on 
the  monuments,  rather  than  its  real  nature.  Besides  the  ka 
every  person  possessed  also  a  soul,  which  he  conceived  in 
the  form  of  a  bird  flitting  about  among  the  trees;  though 
it  might  assume  the  outward  semblance  of  a  flower,  the  lotus, 
a  serpent,  a  crocodile  sojourning  in  the  river,  or  of  many 
other  things.  Even  further  elements  of  personality  seemed 
to  them  present,  like  the  shadov/  possessed  by  every  one, 
but  the  relations  of  all  these  to  each  other  were  very  vague 
and  confused  in  the  mind  of  the  Egyptian;  just  as  the 
average  Christian  of  a  generation  ago,  who  accepted  the 
doctrine  of  body,  soul  and  spirit,  would  have  been  unable  to 
give  any  lucid  explanation  of  their  interrelations.  Like  the 
varying  explanations  of  the  heavens  and  the  world  there  were 
many  once  probably  local  notions  of  the  place  to  which  the 
dead  journeyed;  but  these  beliefs,  although  mutually  irrec- 
oncilable, continued  to  enjoy  general  acceptance,  and  no  one 
was  troubled  by  their  incompatibility,  even  if  it  ever 
occurred  to  them.  There  was  a  world  of  the  dead  in  the 
west,  where  the  sun-god  descended  into  his  grave  every 
night,  so  that  "westerners"  was  for  the  Egyptian  a  term 
for  the  departed ;  and  wherever  possible  the  cemetery  was 
located  on  the  margin  of  the  western  desert.  There  was 
also  the  nether  world  where  the  departed  lived  awaiting  the 
return  of  the  solar  barque  every  evening,  that  they  might 
bathe  in  the  radiance  of  the  sun-god,  and  seizing  the  bow- 
rope  of  his  craft  draw  him  with  rejoicing  through  the  long 
caverns  of  their  dark  abode.  In  the  splendour  of  the  nightly 
heavens  the  Nile-dweller  also  saw  the  host  of  those  who  had 
preceded  him ;  thither  they  had  flown  as  birds,  rising  above 
all  foes  of  the  air,  and  received  by  Ke  as  the  companions 
of  his  celestial  barque,  they  now  swept  across  the  sky  as 
eternal  stars.  Still  more  commonly  the  Egyptian  told  of 
a  field  in  the  northeast  of  the  heavens,  which  he  called  the 
"field  of  food,"  or  the  "field  of  Yaru,"  the  lentil  field, 
where  the  grain  grew  taller  than  any  ever  seen  on  the  banks 


EARLY  RELIGION 


cf  tLe  Nile,  and  the  departed  dwelt  in  security  and  plenty. 
Besides  the  bounty  of  the  soil  he  received  too,  from  the 
earthly  offerings  presented  in  the  temple  of  his  god:  bread 
and  beer  and  fine  linen.  It  was  not  every  one  who  suc- 
ceeded in  reaching  this  field  of  the  blessed;  for  it  was  sur- 
rounded by  water.  Sometimes  the  departed  might  induce 
Lhc  hawk  or  the  ibis  to  bear  him  across  on  their  pinions; 
again  friendly  spirits,  the  four  sons  of  Horus,  brought  him 
a  craft  upon  which  he  might  float  over ;  sometimes  the  sun- 
god  bore  him  across  in  his  barque;  but  by  far  the  majority 
depended  upon  the  services  of  a  ferryman  called  "  Turn- 
face"  or  ' 1  Look-behind, "  because  his  face  was  ever  turned 
to  the  rear  in  poling  his  craft.  He  will  not  receive  all  into 
his  boat,  but  only  him  of  whom  it  was  said,  1 1 there  is  no 
evil  which  he  has  done,"  or  1 ' the  just  who  hath  no  boat," 
or  him  who  is  "righteous  before  heaven  and  earth  and  before 
the  isle,"1  where  lies  the  happy  field  to  which  they  go. 
These  are  the  earliest  traces  in  the  history  of  man  of  an 
ethical  test  at  the  close  of  life,  making  the  life  hereafter 
dependent  upon  the  character  of  the  life  lived  on  earth.  It 
was  at  this  time,  however,  chiefly  ceremonial  rather  than 
moral  purity  which  secured  the  waiting  soul  passage  across 
the  waters.  Yet  a  noble  of  the  Fifth  Dynasty  desires  it 
known  that  he  has  never  defrauded  ancient  tombs,  and  says 
in  his  mastaba,  "I  have  made  this  tomb  as  a  just  possession, 
and  never  have  I  taken  a  thing  belonging  to  any  person.  .  .  . 
Never  have  I  done  aught  of  violence  toward  any  person."2 
Another,  perhaps  a  private  citizen,  says,  "  Never  was  I 
beaten  in  the  presence  of  any  official  since  my  birth;  never 
did  I  take  the  property  of  any  man  by  violence ;  I  was  doer 
Df  that  which  pleased  all  men."3  Nor  was  it  always  nega- 
tive virtues  which  they  claimed;  a  noble  of  Upper  Egypt 
at  the  close  of  the  Fifth  Dynasty  says,  "I  gave  bread  to  the 
hungry  of  the  Cerastes-Mountain  (the  district  he  governed)  ; 

pyramid  of  Pepi  I,  400;  Meniere  570,  Erman.  Zeitschrift  fur  Aegyptische 
Sprache,  XXXI,  76-77. 

2  I,  252.  a  I,  279. 

5 


66 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


I  clothed  him  who  was  naked  therein.  ...  I  never  oppressed 
one  in  possession  of  his  property,  so  that  he  complained  of 
me  because  of  it  to  the  god  of  my  city;  never  was  there 
one  fearing  because  of  one  stronger  than  he,  so  that  he  com- 
plained because  of  it  to  the  god."1 

Into  these  early  beliefs,  with  which  Osiris  originally  had 
nothing  to  do,  the  myth  which  told  of  his  death  and  depar- 
ture into  the  nether  world,  now  entered,  to  become  the 
dominating  element  in  Egyptian  mortuary  belief.  He  had 
become  the  " first  of  those  in  the  west"  and  ' 1  king  of  the 
glorified";  every  soul  that  suffered  the  fate  of  Osiris  might 
also  experience  his  restoration  to  life;  might  indeed  become 
an  Osiris.  So  they  said:  "As  Osiris  lives,  so  shall  he  also 
live;  as  Osiris  died  not,  so  shall  he  also  not  die;  as  Osiris 
perished  not,  so  shall  he  also  not  perish."2  As  the  limbs 
of  Osiris  were  again  imbued  with  life,  so  shall  the  gods 
raise  him  up  and  put  him  among  the  gods.  "The  door  of 
heaven  is  open  to  thee,  and  the  great  bolts  are  drawn  back 
for  thee.  Thou  findest  Ee  standing  there ;  he  takes  thee  by 
the  hand  and  leads  thee  into  the  holy  place  of  heaven,  and 
sets  thee  upon  the  throne  of  Osiris,  upon  this  thy  brazen 
throne,  that  thou  mayest  reign  over  the  glorified.  .  .  .The 
servants  of  the  god  stand  behind  thee  and  the  nobles  of 
the  god  stand  before  thee  and  cry,  'Come  thou  god!  Come 
thou  god!  Come  thou  possessor  of  the  Osiris  throne!'  Isis 
speaks  with  thee,  and  Nephthys  salutes  thee.  The  glorified 
come  to  thee  and  bow  down,  that  they  may  kiss  the  earth 
at  thy  feet.  So  art  thou  protected  and  equipped  as  a  god, 
endowed  with  the  form  of  Osiris,  upon  the  throne  of  the 
' First  of  the  Westerners.'  Thou  doest  what  he  did  among 
the  glorified  and  imperishable.  .  .  .  Thou  makest  thy  house 
to  flourish  after  thee,  and  protectest  thy  children  from  sor- 
row."3 Believing  thus  that  all  might  share  the  goodly  des- 
tiny of  Osiris,  or  even  become  Osiris  himself,  they  contem- 
plated death  without  dismay,  for  they  said  of  the  dead, 

1 1,  281.  2  Pyramids,  Chap.  15. 

a  Erman,  Handbuch,  pp.  96-99. 


EARLY  RELIGION 


67 


"They  depart  not  as  those  who  are  dead,  but  they  depart 
as  those  who  are  living."1  Here  there  entered,  as  a  salutary 
influence  also  the  incident  of  the  triumphant  vindication 
of  Osiris  when  accused;  for  there  is  a  hint  of  a  similar  justi- 
fication for  all,  which,  as  we  shall  yet  see,  was  the  most  fruit- 
ful germ  in  Egyptian  religion.  The  myth  of  Osiris  thus  in- 
troduced an  ultimately  powerful  ethical  element,  which,  while 
not  altogether  lacking  before,  needed  the  personal  factor 
supplied  by  the  Osiris  myth  to  give  it  vital  force.  Thus  sev- 
eral nobles  of  the  Fifth  and  Sixth  Dynasties  threaten  those 
who  in  the  future  would  appropriate  their  tombs,  that  "judg- 
ment shall  be  had  with  them  for  it  by  the  great  god";2  and 
another  says  that  he  never  slandered  others,  for  "I  desired 
that  it  might  be  well  with  me  in  the  great  god's  presence."3 

These  views  are  chiefly  found  in  the  oldest  mortuary  liter- 
ature of  Egypt  which  we  possess,  a  series  of  texts  supposed 
to  be  effective  in  securing  for  the  deceased  the  enjoyment 
of  a  happy  life,  and  especially  the  blessed  future  enjoyed 
by  Osiris.  They  were  engraved  upon  the  passages  of  the 
Fifth  and  Sixth  Dynasty  pyramids,  where  they  have  been 
preserved  in  large  numbers,  and  it  is  largely  from  them  that 
the  above  sketch  of  the  early  Egyptian's  notions  of  the 
hereafter  has  been  taken.4  From  the  place  in  which  they 
are  found,  they  are  usually  called  the  "Pyramid  Texts." 
Many  of  these  texts  grew  up  in  the  predynastic  age  and 
some  have  therefore  been  altered  to  accommodate  them  to 
the  Osiris  faith,  with  which  they  originally  had  no  connec- 
tion—a process  which  has  of  course  resulted  in  inextricable 
confusion  of  originally  differing  mortuary  beliefs. 

So  insistent  a  belief  or  set  of  beliefs  in  a  life  beyond  the 
grave  necessarily  brought  with  it  a  mass  of  mortuary  usages 
with  which  in  the  earliest  period  of  Egypt's  career  we  have 
already  gained  some  acquaintance.  It  is  evident  that  how- 
ever persistently  the  Egyptian  transferred  the  life  of  the 
departed  to  some  distant  region,  far  from  the  tomb  where 


'Ibid. 
•I,  331. 


aI,  253,  330,  338,  357. 
*  See  Erman,  Handbuch. 


68 


A  HISTORY  OP  EGYPT 


the  body  lay,  he  was  never  able  to  detach  the  future  life 
entirely  from  the  body.  It  is  evident  that  he  could  conceive 
of  no  survival  of  the  dead  without  it.  Gradually  he  had 
developed  a  more  and  more  pretentious  and  a  safer  repos- 
itory for  his  dead,  until,  as  we  have  seen,  it  had  become  a 
vast  and  massive  structure  of  stone.  In  all  the  world  no  such 
colossal  tombs  as  the  pyramids  are  to  be  found;  while  the 
tombs  of  the  nobles  grouped  about  have  in  the  Old  Kingdom 
become  immense  masonry  structures,  which  but  a  few  cen- 
turies before,  a  king  would  have  been  proud  to  own.  Such  a 
tomb  as  that  of  Pepi  I  's  vizier  in  the  Sixth  Dynasty  contained 
no  less  than  thirty  one  rooms.    The  superstructure  of  such 


0 


Fig.  34.    Ground  Plan  of  a  "  Mastaba  "  or  Masonry  Tomb. 

a  is  the  chapel;  6  is  the  "  s^rdab  "  (cellar),  the  secret  chamber  containing 
the  portrait  statue;  c  is  the  shaft  leading  down  to  the  subterranean  chamber 
containing  the  mummy.    For  the  elevation  see  Fig.  33. 

a  tomb  was  a  massive  rectangular  oblong  of  masonry,  the 
sides  of  which  slanted  inward  at  an  angle  of  roughly 
seventy  five  degrees.  It  was,  with  the  exception  of  its  room 
or  rooms,  solid  throughout,  reminding  the  modern  natives 
of  the  " mastaba,* '  the  terrace,  area  or  bench  on  which  they 
squat  before  their  houses  and  shops.  Such  a  tomb  is  there- 
fore commonly  termed  a  ' ' mastaba.' '  The  simplest  of  such 
mastabas  has  no  rooms  within,  and  only  a  false  door  in  the 
east  side,  by  which  the  dead,  dwelling  in  the  west,  that  is, 
behind  this  door,  might  enter  again  the  world  of  the  living. 


EARLY  RELIGION 


89 


This  false  door  was  finally  elaborated  into  a  kind  of  chapel- 
chamber  in  the  mass  of  the  masonry,  the  false  door  now 
being  placed  in  the  west  wall  of  the  chamber.  The  inner 
walls  of  this  chapel  bore  scenes  carved  in  relief,  depicting 
the  servants  and  slaves  of  the  deceased  at  their  daily  tasks 
on  his  estate  (Figs.  44,  56) ;  they  plowed  and  sowed  and 
reaped;  they  pastured  the  herds  and  slaughtered  them  for 
the  table,  they  wrought  stone  vessels  or  they  built  Nile  boats 
—in  fact  they  were  shown  in  field  and  workshop  producing 
all  those  things  which  were  necessary  for  their  lord's  welfare 
in  the  hereafter,  while  here  and  there  his  towering  figure 
appeared  superintending  and  inspecting  their  labours  as  he 
had  done  before  he  " departed  into  the  West."  It  is  these 
scenes  which  are  the  source  of  our  knowledge  of  the  life  and 
customs  of  the  time.  Far  below  the  massive  mastaba  was  a 
burial  chamber  in  the  native  rock  reached  by  a  shaft  which 
passed  down  through  the  superstructure  of  masonry.  On  the 
day  of  burial  the  body,  now  duly  embalmed,  was  subjected  to 
elaborate  ceremonies  embodying  occurrences  in  the  history  of 
Osiris.  It  was  especially  necessary  by  potent  charms  to  open 
*  the  mouth  and  ears  of  the  deceased  that  he  might  speak  and 
hear  in  the  hereafter.  The  mummy  was  then  lowered  down 
the  shaft  and  laid  as  of  old  upon  its  left  side  in  a  fine  rec- 
tangular cedar  coffin,  which  again  was  deposited  in  a  massive 
sarcophagus  of  granite  or  limestone.  Food  and  drink  were 
left  with  it,  besides  some  few  toilet  articles,  a  magic  wand 
and  a  number  of  amulets  for  protection  against  the  enemies 
of  the  dead,  especially  serpents.  The  number  of  serpent- 
charms  in  the  Pyramid  Texts,  intended  to  render  these  foes 
harmless,  is  very  large.  The  deep  shaft  leading  to  the  burial 
chamber  was  then  filled  to  the  top  with  sand  and  gravel, 
and  the  friends  of  the  dead  now  left  him  to  the  life  in  the 
hereafter,  which  we  have  pictured. 

Yet  their  duty  toward  their  departed  friend  had  not  yet 
lapsed.  In  a  tiny  chamber  beside  the  chapel  they  masoned 
up  a  portrait  statue  of  the  deceased,  sometimes  cutting  small 
channels,  which  connected  the  two  rooms,  the  chapel  and 


70 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


the  statue-chamber,  or  "serdab,"  as  the  modern  natives 
call  it.  As  the  statue  was  an  exact  reproduction  of  the 
deceased's  body,  his  ka  might  therefore  attach  itself  to  this 
counterfeit,  and  through  the  connecting  channels  enjoy  the 
food  and  drink  placed  for  it  in  the  chapel.  The  offerings  to 
the  dead,  originally  only  a  small  loaf  in  a  bowl,  placed  by 
a  son,  or  wife,  or  brother  on  a  reed  mat  at  the  grave,  have 
now  become  as  elaborate  as  the  daily  cuisine  once  enjoyed 
by  the  lord  of  the  tomb  before  he  forsook  his  earthly  house. 
But  this  labour  of  love,  or  sometimes  of  fear,  has  now 
devolved  upon  a  large  personnel,  attached  to  the  tomb,  some 
of  whom,  as  its  priests,  constantly  maintained  its  ritual. 
Very  specific  contracts1  were  made  with  these  persons, 
requiting  them  for  their  services  with  a  fixed  income  drawn 
from  endowments  legally  established  and  recorded  for  this 
purpose  by  the  noble  himself,  in  anticipation  of  his  death. 
The  tomb  of  Prince  Nekure,  son  of  king  Khafre  of  the 
Fourth  Dynasty,  was  endowed  with  the  revenues  from 
twelve  towns.2  A  palace-steward  in  Userkaf's  time  ap- 
pointed eight  mortuary  priests  for  the  service  of  his  tomb  ;3 
and  a  nomarch  of  Upper  Egypt  endowed  his  tomb  with 
income  from  eleven  villages  and  settlements.4  The  income 
of  a  mortuary  priest  in  such  a  tomb  was  in  one  instance 
sufficient  to  enable  him  to  endow  the  tomb  of  his  daughter 
in  the  same  way.5  Such  endowments  and  the  service  thus 
maintained  were  intended  to  be  permanent,  but  in  the  course 
of  a  few  generations  the  accumulated  burden  was  intol- 
erable, and  ancestors  of  a  century  before,  with  rare  excep- 
tions, were  necessarily  neglected  in  order  to  maintain  those 
whose  claims  were  stronger  and  more  recent.  Or,  as  in  the 
temples  the  offerings  after  having  been  presented  to  the 
gods  were  employed  in  the  maintenance  of  the  people 
attached  to  the  temple,  so  now  a  favourite  noble  of  the  king 
might  be  rewarded  by  the  diversion  to  his  tomb  of  a  certain 
portion  of  the  plentiful  income  which  had  already  been  pre- 

1  1,  200-209,  231-5.  2 1,  191. 

3 1,  226-7.  4 1,  379. 

5  Erman,  Handbuch,  p.  123. 


EARLY  RELIGION 


71 


sented  at  the  tomb  of  some  royal  ancestor  or  other  relative 
of  the  king's  house.1  It  had  now  become  so  customary  for 
the  king  to  assist  his  favourite  lords  and  nobles  in  this  way 2 
that  we  find  a  frequent  mortuary  prayer  beginning  ' '  An 
offering  which  the  king  gives,"  and  as  long  as  the  number 
of  those  whose  tombs  were  thus  maintained  was  limited  to 
the  noble  and  official  circle  around  the  king,  such  royal 
largesses  to  the  dead  were  quite  possible.  But  in  later 
times,  when  the  mortuary  practices  of  the  noble  class  had 
spread  to  the  masses,  they  also  employed  the  same  prayer, 
although  it  is  impossible  that  the  royal  bounty  could  have 
been  so  extended.  Thus  this  prayer  is  to-day  the  most  fre- 
quent formula  to  be  found  on  the  Egyptian  monuments, 
occurring  thousands  of  times  on  the  tombs  or  tomb-stones 
of  people  who  had  no  prospect  of  enjoying  such  royal  dis- 
tinction; and  in  the  same  tomb  it  is  always  repeated  over 
and  over  again.  In  the  same  way  the  king  also  assisted  his 
favourites  in  the  erection  of  their  tombs,  and  the  noble  often 
records  with  pride  that  the  king  presented  him  with  the 
false  door,  or  the  sarcophagus,  or  detailed  a  body  of  royal 
artificers  to  assist  in  the  construction  of  his  tomb.3 

If  the  tomb  of  the  noble  had  now  become  an  endowed 
institution,  we  have  seen  that  that  of  the  king  was  already 
such  in  the  First  Dynasty.  In  the  Third  Dynasty,  at  least, 
the  Pharaoh  was  not  satisfied  with  one  tomb,  but  in  his 
double  capacity  as  king  of  the  Two  Lands  he  erected  two, 
just  as  the  palace  was  double  for  the  same  reason.  We  find 
the  monarch's  tomb  now  far  surpassing  that  of  the  noble 
in  its  extent  and  magnificence.  The  mortuary  service  of 
the  Pharaoh's  lords  might  be  conducted  in  the  chapel  in 
the  east  side  of  the  mastaba ;  but  that  of  the  Pharaoh  himself 
required  a  separate  building,  a  splendid  mortuary  temple 
on  the  east  side  of  the  pyramid.  A  richly  endowed  priest- 
hood was  here  employed  to  maintain  its  ritual  and  to  fur= 

lI,  173,  1.  5,  241. 

2 1,  204,  207,  209,  213-227,  242-249,  274-7,  370, 
8  I,  210-212,  237-40,  242-9,  274-7,  308- 


72  A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Fig.  35.    Restoration  of  the  Pyramids  of  Abusir  and  Connected  Build- 
ings.    (After  Borchardt.) 

Close  to  each  pyramid  on  the  hither  side  is  the  pyramid-temple.  From 
two  of  these,  covered  masonry  causeways  lead  down  to  the  edge  of  the  desert 
plateau,  where  each  terminates  in  a  monumental  gate  of  massive  masonry 
( see  Fig.  69 ) .  Before  the  gate  is  a  landing  platform  with  steps  leading 
down  to  the  water,  where  boats  may  land  during  the  inundation. 

irish  the  food,  drink  and  clothing  of  the  departed  king.  Its 
large  personnel  demanded  many  outbuildings,  and  the  whole 
group  of  pyramid,  temple  and  accessories  was  surrounded 
by  a  wall.  All  this  was  on  the  edge  of  the  plateau  overlook- 
ing the  valley,  in  which,  below  the  pyramid,  there  now  grew 
up  a  walled  town.  Leading  up  from  the  town  to  the  pyramid 
anclosure  was  a  massive  causeway  of  stone  which  terminated 
at  the  lower  or  townward  end  in  a  large  and  stately  struc- 
ture of  granite  or  limestone  sometimes  with  floors  of  alabas- 
ter, the  whole  forming  a  superb  portal,  a  worthy  entrance 
to  so  impressive  a  tomb  (Figs.  35,  69).  Through  this  portal 
passed  the  white-robed  procession  on  feast  days,  moving  from 
the  town  up  the  long  white  causeway  to  the  temple,  above 


EARLY  RELIGION 


73 


which  rose  the  mighty  mass  of  the  pyramid.  The  populace 
in  the  city  below  probably  never  gained  access  to  the  pyra- 
mid-enclosure. Over  the  town  wall,  through  the  waving 
green  of  the  palms,  they  saw  the  gleaming  white  pyramid, 
where  lay  the  god  who  had  once  ruled  over  them;  while 
beside  it  rose  slowly  year  by  year  another  mountain  of 
stone,  gradually  assuming  pyramid  form,  and  there,  would 
some  time  rest  his  divine  son,  of  whose  splendour  they  had 
now  and  then  on  feast  days  caught  a  fleeting  glimpse.  While 
the  proper  burial  of  the  Pharaoh  and  his  nobles  had  now 
become  a  matter  seriously  affecting  the  economic  conditions 
of  the  state,  such  elaborate  mortuary  equipment  was  still 
confined  to  a  small  class,  and  the  common  people  continued 
to  lay  away  their  dead  without  any  attempt  at  embalmment 
in  the  pit  of  their  prehistoric  ancestors  on  the  margin  of  the 
western  desert. 


CHAPTER  V 


THE  OLD  KINGDOM:    GOVERNMENT  AND  SOCIETY, 
INDUSTRY  AND  ART 

The  origins  of  the  kingship  and  of  the  customs  which 
made  it  so  peculiar  in  ancient  Egypt,  as  the  reader  has 
already  observed,  are  rooted  in  a  past  so  remote  that  we  can 
discern  but  faint  traces  of  the  evolution  of  the  office.  With 
the  consolidation  under  Menes  it  was  already  an  institu- 
tion of  great  age,  and  over  four  centuries  of  development 
which  then  followed,  had  at  the  dawn  of  the  Old  Kingdom 
already  brought  to  the  office  a  prestige  and  an  exalted 
power,  demanding  the  deepest  reverence  of  the  subject 
whether  high  or  low.  Indeed  the  king  was  now  officially  a 
god,  and  one  of  the  most  frequent  titles  was  the  "Good 
God";  such  was  the  respect  due  him  that  there  was  reluc- 
tance to  refer  to  him  by  name.  The  courtier  might  desig- 
nate him  impersonally  as  "one, "  and  "to  let  one  know" 
becomes  the  official  phrase  for  "report  to  the  king."  His 
government  and  ultimately  the  monarch  personally  were 
called  the  ' '  Great  House, ' '  in  Egyptian  Per-o,  a  term  which 
has  descended  to  us  through  the  Hebrews  as  "Pharaoh." 
There  was  also  a  number  of  other  circumlocutions,  which 
the  fastidious  courtier  might  employ  in  referring  to  his 
divine  lord.  When  he  died  he  was  received  into  the  circle 
of  the  gods,  to  be  worshipped  like  them  ever  after  in  the 
temple  before  the  vast  pyramid  in  which  he  slept. 

Court  customs  had  gradually  developed  into  an  elaborate 
official  etiquette,  for  the  punctilious  observance  of  which, 
already  in  this  distant  age,  a  host  of  gorgeous  marshals  and 
court  chamberlains  were  in  constant  attendance  at  the  palace. 
There  had  thus  grown  up  a  palace  life,  not  unlike  that  of 

74 


THE  OLD  KINGDOM 


7  0 


modern  times  in  the  East,  a  life  into  which  we  gain  obscure 
glimpses  in  the  numerous  titles  borne  by  the  court  lords  of 
the  time.  With  ostentatious  pride  they  arrayed  these  titles 
on  the  walls  of  their  tombs,  mingled  with  sounding  predi- 
cates indicating  their  high  duties  and  exalted  privileges  in 
the  circle  surrounding  the  king.  There  were  many  ranks, 
and  the  privileges  of  each,  with  all  possible  niceties  of  pre- 
cedence, were  strictly  observed  and  enforced  by  the  court 
marshals  at  all  state  levees  and  royal  audiences.  Every 
need  of  the  royal  person  was  represented  by  some  palace 
lord,  whose  duty  it  was  to  supply  it,  and  who  bore  a  corre- 
sponding title,  like  the  court  physician  or  the  leader  of  the 
court  music.  Although  the  royal  toilet  was  comparatively 
simple,  yet  a  small  army  of  wig-makers,  sandal-makers,  per- 
fumers, launderers,  bleachers  and  guardians  of  the  royal 
wardrobe,  filled  the  king's  chambers.  They  record  their 
titles  upon  their  tomb-stones  with  visible  satisfaction.  Thus 
to  take  an  example  at  random,  one  of  them  calls  himself 
"Overseer  of  the  cosmetic  box  .  .  .  doing  in  the  matter  of 
cosmetic  art  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  lord;  overseer  of  the 
cosmetic  pencil,  sandal-bearer  of  the  king,  doing  in  the 
matter  of  the  king's  sandals  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  lord."1 
The  king's  favourite  wife  became  the  official  queen,  whose 
eldest  son  usually  received  the  appointment  as  crown  prince 
to  succeed  his  father.  But  as  at  all  oriental  courts,  there 
was  also  a  royal  harem  with  numerous  inmates.  Many  sons 
usually  surrounded  the  monarch,  and  the  vast  revenues  of 
the  palace  were  liberally  distributed  among  them.  A  son 
of  king  Khafre  in  the  Fourth  Dynasty  left  an  estate  of 
fourteen  towns,  besides  a  town  house  and  two  estates  at 
the  royal  residence,  the  pyramid  city.  Besides  these,  the 
endowment  of  his  tomb  comprised  twelve  towns  more.2  But 
these  princes  assisted  in  their  father's  government,  and  did 
not  live  a  life  of  indolence  and  luxury.  We  shall  find  them 
occupying  some  of  the  most  arduous  posts  in  the  service  of 
the  state. 


1  Cairo  stela,  1787. 


2 1,  190-9. 


76 


A  HISTORY  OP  EGYPT 


However  exalted  may  have  been  the  official  position  of  the 
Pharaoh  as  the  sublime  god  at  the  head  of  the  state,  he  never- 
theless maintained  close  personal  relations  with  the  more 
prominent  nobles  of  the  realm.  As  a  prince  he  had  been 
educated  with  a  group  of  youths  from  the  families  of  these 
nobles,  and  together  they  had  been  instructed  in  such 
manly  arts  as  swimming.1  The  friendships  and  the  inti- 
macies thus  formed  in  youth  must  have  been  a  powerful 
influence  in  the  later  life  of  the  monarch.  We  see  the 
Pharaoh  giving  his  daughter  in  marriage  to  one  of  these 
youths  with  whom  he  had  been  educated,2  and  the  severe 
decorum  of  the  court  was  violated  in  behalf  of  this  favour- 
ite, who  was  not  permitted  on  formal  occasions  to  kiss 
the  dust  before  the  Pharaoh,  but  enjoyed  the  unprec- 
edented privilege  of  kissing  the  royal  foot.3  On  the  part 
of  his  intimates  such  ceremonial  was  purely  a  matter  of 
official  etiquette;  in  private  the  monarch  did  not  hesitate  to 
recline  familiarly  in  complete  relaxation  beside  one  of  his 
favourites,  while  the  attending  slaves  anointed  them  both.4 
The  daughter  of  such  a  noble  might  become  the  official  queen 
and  mother  of  the  next  king.5  We  see  the  king  inspecting 
a  public  building  with  his  chief  architect,  the  vizier.  As 
he  admires  the  work  and  praises  his  faithful  minister,  he 
notices  that  the  latter  does  not  hear  the  words  of  royal 
favour.  The  king's  exclamation  alarms  the  waiting  cour- 
tiers, the  stricken  minister  is  quickly  carried  to  the  palace 
itself,  where  the  Pharaoh  hastily  summons  the  priests  and 
chief  physicians.  He  sends  to  the  library  for  a  case  of 
medical  rolls,  but  all  is  in  vain.  The  physicians  declare 
his  condition  hopeless.  The  king  is  smitten  with  sorrow 
and  retires  to  his  chamber  to  pray  to  Re.  He  then  makes 
all  arrangements  for  the  deceased  noble's  burial,  ordering 
an  ebony  coffin,  and  having  the  body  anointed  in  his  own 
presence.  The  eldest  son  of  the  dead  was  then  empowered 
to  build  the  tomb,  the  king  furnishing  and  endowing  it.6 

*I,  256.  2 1,  254  ff.  »I,  260. 

•I,  270.  5 1,  344.  %  242-9. 


THE  OLD  KINGDOM 


77 


It  is  evident  that  the  most  powerful  lords  of  the  kingdom 
were  thus  bound  to  the  person  of  the  Pharaoh  by  close  per- 
sonal ties  of  blood  and  friendship.  These  relations  were 
carefully  fostered  by  the  monarch,  and  in  the  Fourth  and 
early  Fifth  Dynasty,  there  are  aspects  of  this  ancient  state 
in  which  its  inner  circle  at  least  reminds  one  of  a  great 
family,  so  that,  as  we  have  observed,  the  king  assisted  all 
its  members  in  the  building  and  equipment  of  their  tombs, 
and  showed  the  greatest  solicitude  for  their  welfare,  both 
here  and  in  the  hereafter. 

At  the  head  of  government  there  was  theoretically  none 
to  question  the  Pharaoh's  power.  In  actual  fact  he  was  as 
subject  to  the  demands  of  policy  toward  this  or  that  class, 
powerful  family,  clique  or  individual,  or  toward  the  harem, 
as  are  his  successors  in  the  oriental  despotisms  of  the  present 
day.  These  forces,  which  more  or  less  modified  his  daily 
acts,  we  can  follow  at  this  distant  day  only  as  we  see  the 
state  slowly  moulded  in  its  larger  outlines  by  the  impact 
of  generation  after  generation  of  such  influences  from  the 
Pharaoh's  environment.  In  spite  of  the  luxury  evident  in 
the  organization  of  his  court,  the  Pharaoh  did  not  live  the 
life  of  a  luxurious  despot,  such  as  we  frequently  find  among 
the  Mamlukes  of  Moslem  Egypt.  In  the  Fourth  Dynasty 
at  least,  he  had  as  prince  already  seen  arduous  service  in  the 
superintendence  of  quarrying  and  mining  operations,  or  he 
had  served  his  father  as  vizier  or  prime  minister,  gaining 
invaluable  experience  in  government  before  his  succession 
to  the  throne.  He  was  thus  an  educated  and  enlightened 
monarch,  able  to  read  and  write,  and  not  infrequently  taking 
his  pen  in  hand  personally  to  indite  a  letter  of  thanks  and 
appreciation  to  some  deserving  officer  in  his  government.1 
He  constantly  received  his  ministers  and  engineers  to  dis 
cuss  the  needs  of  the  country,  especially  in  the  conservation 
of  the  water  supply  and  the  development  of  the  system  of 
irrigation.  His  chief  architect  sent  in  plans  for  laying  out 
the  royal  estates,  and  we  see  the  monarch  discussing  with 

lI,  268-270,  27L 


78 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


him  the  excavation  of  a  lake  two  thousand  feet  long  in  one 
of  them.1  He  read  many  a  weary  roll  of  state  papers,  or 
turned  from  these  to  dictate  dispatches  to  his  commanders 
in  Sinai,  Nubia  and  Punt,  along  the  southern  Red  Sea.  The 
briefs  of  litigating  heirs  reached  his  hands  and  were  prob- 
ably not  always  a  matter  of  mere  routine  to  be  read  by  sec- 
retaries. When  such  business  of  the  royal  offices  had  been 
settled  the  monarch  rode  out  in  his  palanquin,  accompanied 
by  his  vizier  and  attendants,  to  inspect  his  buildings  and 
public  works,  and  his  hand  was  everywhere  felt  in  all  the 
important  affairs  of  the  nation. 

The  location  of  the  royal  residence  was  largely  determined 
by  the  pyramid  which  the  king  was  building.  As  we  have 
remarked,  the  palace  and  the  town  formed  by  the  court  and 
all  that  was  attached  to  it,  probably  lay  in  the  valley  below 
the  margin  of  the  western  desert-plateau,  on  which  the  pyr- 
amid rose.  From  dynasty  to  dynasty,  or  sometimes  from 
reign  to  reign,  it  followed  the  pyramid,  the  light  construc- 
tion of  the  palaces  and  villas  not  interfering  seriously  with 
such  mobility.  After  the  Third  Dynasty  the  residence  was 
always  in  the  vicinity  of  later  Memphis.  The  palace  itself 
was  double,  or  at  least  it  possessed  two  gates  in  its  front, 
corresponding  to  the  two  ancient  kingdoms,  of  which  it  was 
now  the  seat  of  government.  Each  door  or  gate  had  a 
name  indicating  to  which  kingdom  it  belonged ;  thus  Snefru 
named  the  two  gates  of  his  palace  "Exalted  is  the  White 
Crown  of  Snefru  upon  the  Southern  Gate,"  and  "Exalted 
is  the  Red  Crown  of  Snefru  upon  the  Northern  Gate."2 
Throughout  Egyptian  history  the  facade  of  the  palace  was 
called  the  ' '  double  front, ' '  and  in  writing  the  word  ' 1  palace ' 1 
the  scribe  frequently  placed  the  sign  of  two  houses  after  it. 
The  royal  office  was  also  termed  the  "double  cabinet,' ' 
although  it  is  not  likely  that  there  were  two  such  bureaus, 
one  for  the  South  and  one  for  the  North ;  the  division  prob- 
ably went  no  further  than  the  purely  external  symbolism  of 
the  two  palace  gates.    The  same  was  doubtless  true  of  the 

i  Ibid.  2 1,  148. 


THE  OLD  KINGDOM 


79 


central  administration  as  a  whole.  We  thus  hear  of  a 
"double  granary"  and  a  "double  white  house"  as  depart- 
ments of  the  treasury.  These  doubtless  no  longer  corre- 
sponded to  existing  double  organizations ;  they  have  become 
a  fiction  surviving  from  the  first  two  dynasties;  but  such 
double  names  were  always  retained  in  the  later  terminology 
of  the  government.  Adjoining  the  palace  was  a  huge  court, 
connected  with  which  were  the  "halls"  or  offices  of  the  cen- 
tral government.  The  entire  complex  of  palace  and  adjoin- 
ing offices  was  known  as  the  "Great  House,"  which  was 


F]G.  36.      COLLECTIOX  OF  TAXES  BY  TREASURY  OFFICIALS. 


'  On  the  right  the  scribes  and  fiscal  officers  keep  record,  while  deputies  with 
staves  bring  in  the  taxpayers.  Over  these  are  the  words :  "  Seizing  the  town- 
rulers  for  a  reckoning." 

thus  the  centre  of  administration  as  well  as  the  dwelling  of 
the  royal  household.  Here  was  focussed  the  entire  system 
of  government,  which  ramified  throughout  the  country. 

For  purposes  of  local  government,  Upper  Egypt  was 
divided  into  some  twenty  administrative  districts,  and  later 
we  find  as  many  more  in  the  Delta.  These  "nomes"  were 
presumably  the  early  principalities,  from  which  the  local 
princes  who  ruled  them  in  prehistoric  days,  had  long  dis- 
appeared. At  the  head  of  such  a  district  or  nome  there  was 
in  the  Fourth  and  Fifth  Dynasties  an  official  appointed  by 
the  crown,  and  known  as  "First  under  the  King."  Besides 
his  administrative  function  as  "local  governor"  of  the  nome, 
he  also  served  in  a  judicial  capacity,  and  therefore  bore  also 
the  title  of  "judge."  In  Upper  Egypt  these  "local  gov- 
ernors" were  also  sometimes  styled  "magnates  of  the 


80 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Southern  Ten,"  as  if  there  were  a  group  among  them  enjoy- 
ing higher  rank  and  forming  a  college  or  council  of  ten. 
While  we  are  not  so  well  informed  regarding  the  government 
of  the  North,  the  system  there  was  evidently  very  similar, 
although  there  were  perhaps  fewer  local  governors.  Within 
the  nome  which  he  administered  the  " local  governor"  had 
under  his  control  a  miniature  state,  an  administrative  unit 
with  all  the  organs  of  government:  a  treasury,  a  court  of 
justice,  a  land-office,  a  service  for  the  conservation  of  the 
dykes  and  canals,  a  body  of  militia,  a  magazine  for  their 
equipment ;  and  in  these  offices  a  host  of  scribes  and  record- 
ers, with  an  ever  growing  mass  of  archives  and  local  records. 
The  chief  administrative  bond  which  coordinated  and  cen- 
tralized these  nomes  was  the  organization  of  the  treasury, 
by  the  operation  of  which  there  annually  converged  upon  the 
magazines  of  the  central  government  the  grain,  cattle,  poul- 
try and  industrial  products,  which  in  an  age  without  coinage, 
were  collected  as  taxes  by  the  local  governors.  The  local 
registration  of  land,  or  the  land-office,  the  irrigation  service, 
the  judicial  administration,  and  other  administrative  func- 
tions were  also  centralized  at  the  Great  House;  but  it  was 
the  treasury  which  formed  the  most  tangible  bond  between 
the  palace  and  the  nomes.  Over  the  entire  fiscal  adminis- 
tration there  was  a  " Chief  Treasurer,"  residing  of  course 
at  the  court.  In  a  state  in  which  buildings  and  extensive 
public  works  demanded  so  much  attention,  the  labour  of 
obtaining  such  enormous  quantities  of  materials  from  the 
mines  and  quarries  required  the  oversight  of  two  important 
treasury  officials,  whom  we  would  call  assistant  treasurers. 
These  the  Egyptian  styled  ' 1  Treasurers  of  the  God, ' '  mean- 
ing of  the  king.  They  were  the  men  who  superintended  the 
quarrying  and  transportation  of  the  stone  for  the  temples 
and  the  massive  pyramids  of  the  Old  Kingdom;  besides 
leading  many  an  expedition  into  Sinai  to  exploit  the  mines 
there. 

As  the  reader  may  have  already  inferred,  the  judicial 
functions  of  the  local  governors  were  merely  incidental  to 


THE  OLD  KINGDOM 


81 


their  admin istrative  labours.  There  was  therefore  no  clearly 
denned  class  of  professional  judges,  but  the  administrative 
officials  were  learned  in  the  law  and  assumed  judicial  duties. 
Like  the  treasury,  the  judicial  administration  also  converged 
in  one  person,  for  the  local  judges  were  organized  into  six 
courts  and  these  in  turn  were  under  a  chief  justice  of  the 
whole  realm.  Many  of  the  judges  bore  the  additional  pred- 
icate "  attached  to  Nekhen"  (Hieraconpolis),  an  ancient 
title  descended  from  the  days  when  Nekhen  was  the  royal 
residence  of  the  Southern  Kingdom.  There  was  a  body  of 
highly  elaborated  law,  which  has  unfortunately  perished 
entirely.  The  local  governors  boast  of  their  fairness  and 
justice  in  deciding  cases,  often  stating  in  their  tombs: 
"  Never  did  I  judge  two  brothers  in  such  a  way  that  a  son 
was  deprived  of  his  paternal  possession."1  The  system  of 
submitting  all  cases  to  the  court  in  the  form  of  written 
briefs,  a  method  so  praised  by  Diodorus,2  seems  to  have 
existed  already  in  this  remote  age,  and  the  Berlin  Museum 
possesses  such  a  legal  document  pertaining  to  litigation 
between  an  heir  and  an  executor.3  It  is  the  oldest  document 
of  the  kind  in  existence.  Special  cases  of  private  nature 
were  "heard"  by  the  chief  justice  and  a  judge  "attached 
to  Nekhen,"4  while  in  a  case  of  treason  in  the  harem,  the 
accused  queen  was  tried  before  a  court  of  two  judges 
"attached  to  Nekhen,"  especially  appointed  by  the  crown 
for  that  purpose,  the  chief  justice  not  being  one  of  them.5 
It  is  a  remarkable  testimony  to  the  Pharaoh's  high  sense  of 
justice,  and  to  the  surprisingly  judicial  temper  of  the  time, 
that  in  this  distant  age  such  a  suspected  conspirator  in  the 
royal  harem  was  not  immediately  put  to  death  without  more 
ado.  Summary  execution,  without  any  attempt  legally  to 
establish  the  guilt  of  the  accused,  would  not  have  been  con- 
sidered unjustifiable  in  times  not  a  century  removed  from 
our  own  in  the  same  land.  Under  certain  circumstances, 
not  yet  clear  to  us,  appeal  might  be  made  directly  to  the 

xli  331,  357.  2 Book  I,  75-76. 

8  Pap.  des  Kgl.  Mus.,  82-3.  4 1,  307.  5 1,  310. 

6 


82 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


king,  and  briefs  in  the  case  submitted  to  him.  Such  a  brief 
is  the  document  from  the  Old  Kingdom  now  in  Berlin,  above 
noticed  (Fig.  45). 

The  immediate  head  of  the  entire  organization  of  govern- 
ment was  the  Pharaoh's  prime  minister,  or  as  he  is  more 
commonly  called  in  the  east,  the  vizier.  At  the  same  time 
he  also  regularly  served  as  chief  justice;  he  was  thus  the 
most  powerful  man  in  the  kingdom,  next  to  the  monarch 
himself,  and  for  that  reason  the  office  was  held  by  the  crown 
prince  in  the  Fourth  Dynasty.  His  ' ' hall"  or  office  served 
as  the  archives  of  the  government,  and  he  was  the  chief 
archivist  of  the  state.  The  state  records  were  called  "king's 
writings."1  Here  all  lands  were  registered,  and  all  local 
archives  centralized  and  coordinated;  here  wills  were  re- 
corded, and  when  executed  the  resulting  new  titles  were 
issued.2  The  will  of  a  king's  son  in  the  Fourth  Dynasty 
has  been  preserved  practically  complete,3  and  another  from 
the  beginning  of  the  Fifth  Dynasty,4  both  having  been  cut 
in  hieroglyphs  on  the  stone  wall  of  the  tomb-chapel,  where 
they  could  defy  the  lapse  of  nearly  five  thousand  years, 
while  the  papyrus  archives  of  the  vizier  perished  thousands 
of  years  ago.  Several  other  similar  mortuary  enactments 
have  also  survived.5  All  lands  presented  by  the  Pharaoh 
were  conveyed  by  royal  decree,  recorded  in  the  "king's 
writings"  at  the  vizier's  offices.6 

All  administration  like  the  palace  was  in  theory  at  least 
twofold:  a  fiction  surviving  from  the  predynastic  times, 
before  the  union  of  the  two  kingdoms.  We  thus  hear  of 
a  t 1  double  granary ' '  in  the  treasury,  or  a  "  double  cabinet, ' ' 
the  office  of  the  king.  And  these  terms,  which  perhaps  cor- 
respond to  existing  realities  in  some  cases,  were  retained  in 
the  later  terminology  of  the  government,  long  after  such 
division  into  two  departments  had  ceased  to  exist.  Over 
the  vast  army  of  scribes  and  officials  of  all  possible  ranks 

1I,  268  ff.j  273.  2 1,  175  11.  14-16. 

8 1,  190-199.  4 1,  213-217. 

5 1,  231  ff.  and  others  throughout  Fifth  and  Sixth  Dynasty  records. 


THE  OLD  KINGDOM 


83 


from  high  to  low,  who  transacted  the  business  of  the  Great 
House,  the  vizier  was  supreme.  When  we  add,  that  besides 
some  minor  offices,  he  was  also  often  the  Pharaoh 's  chief 
architect,  or  as  the  Egyptian  said,  ' '  Chief  of  all  Works  of 
the  King,"  we  shall  understand  that  this  great  minister 
was  the  busiest  man  in  the  kingdom.  All  powerful  as  he 
was,  the  people  appealed  to  him  in  his  judicial  capacity,  as 
to  one  who  could  right  every  wrong,  and  the  office  was  tradi- 
tionally the  most  popular  in  the  long  list  of  the  Pharaoh's 
servants.  It  was  probably  this  office  which  was  held  by  the 
great  wise  man,  Imhotep,  under  king  Zoser,  and  the  wisdom 
of  two  other  viziers  of  the  Third  Dynasty,  Kegemne  and 
Ptah-hotep,  committed  to  writing,  survived  for  many  cen- 
turies after  the  Old  Kingdom  was  a  memory.  Such  was  the 
reverence  with  which  the  incumbents  of  this  exalted  office 
were  regarded,  that  the  words,  ' ' Life,  Prosperity,  Health," 
which  properly  followed  only  the  name  of  the  king  or  a 
royal  prince,  were  sometimes  added  to  that  of  the  vizier. 

Such  was  the  organization  of  this  remarkable  state,  as 
we  are  able  to  discern  it  during  the  first  two  or  three  cen- 
turies of  the  Old  Kingdom.  In  the  thirtieth  century 
before  Christ  it  had  reached  an  elaborate  development  of 
state  functions  under  local  officials,  such  as  was  not  found 
in  Europe  until  far  down  in  the  history  of  the  Roman 
Empire.  It  was,  to  sum  up  briefly,  a  closely  centralized  body 
of  local  officials,  each  a  centre  for  all  the  organs  of  the  local 
government,  which  in  each  nome  were  thus  focussed  in  the 
local  governor  before  converging  upon  the  palace.  A 
Pharaoh  of  power,  force  and  ability,  and  loyal  governors  in 
the  nomes,  meant  a  strong  state ;  but  let  the  Pharaoh  betray 
signs  of  weakness  and  the  governors  might  gain  an  inde- 
pendence which  would  threaten  the  dissolution  of  the  whole. 
It  was  the  maintenance  of  the  nomes  each  as  a  separate  unit 
of  government,  and  the  interposition  of  the  governor  at  its 
head  between  the  Pharaoh  and  the  nome,  which  rendered 
the  system  dangerous.  These  little  states  within  the  state, 
each  frequently  having  its  own  governor,  might  too  easily 


84 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


become  independent  centres  of  political  power.  How  this 
process  actually  took  place  we  shall  be  able  to  observe  as 
we  follow  the  career  of  the  Old  Kingdom  in  the  next  chapter. 
Such  a  process  was  rendered  the  more  easy  because  the 
government  did  not  maintain  any  uniform  or  compact  mili- 
tary organization.  Each  nome  possessed  its  militia,  com- 
manded by  the  civil  officials,  who  were  not  necessarily 
trained  soldiers ;  there  was  thus  no  class  of  exclusively  mili- 
tary officers.  The  temple  estates  likewise  maintained  a  body 
of  such  troops.  They  were  for  the  most  part  employed  in 
mining  and  quarrying  expeditions,  supplying  the  hosts  nec- 
essary for  the  transportation  of  the  enormous  blocks  often 
demanded  by  the  architects.  In  such  work  they  were  under 
the  command  of  the  "treasurer  of  the  God."  In  case  of 
serious  war,  as  there  was  no  standing  army,  this  militia  from 
all  the  nomes  and  temple  estates,  besides  auxiliaries  levied 
among  the  Nubian  tribes,  were  brought  together  as  quickly 
as  possible  and  the  command  of  the  motley  host,  without 
any  permanent  organization,  was  entrusted  by  the  monarch 
to  some  able  official.  As  the  local  governors  commanded 
the  militia  of  the  nomes,  they  held  the  sources  of  the 
Pharaoh's  dubious  military  strength  in  their  own  hands. 

The  land  which  was  thus  administered  must  to  a  large 
extent  have  belonged  to  the  crown.  Under  the  oversight 
of  the  local  governors '  subordinates  it  was  worked  and  made 
profitable  by  slaves  or  serfs,  who  formed  the  bulk  of  the 
population.  They  belonged  to  the  ground  and  were  be- 
queathed with  it.1  We  have  no  means  of  determining  how 
large  this  population  was,  although,  as  we  have  before 
stated,  it  had  reached  the  sum  of  seven  million  by  Roman 
times.2  The  descendants  of  the  numerous  progeny  of  older 
kings,  with  possible  remnants  of  the  prehistoric  landed 
nobility,  had  created  also  a  class  of  land-holding  nobles, 
whose  great  estates  must  have  formed  a  not  inconsiderable 
fraction  of  the  available  lands  of  the  kingdom.  Such  lords 
did  not  necessarily  enter  upon  an  official  career  or  partici- 

lIt  171.  2Diodorus  I,  31. 


THE  OLD  KINGDOM 


85 


pate  in  the  administration.  But  the  nobles  and  the  peasant 
serfs,  as  the  highest  and  the  lowest,  were  not  the  only  classes 
of  society.  There  was  a  free  middle  class,  in  whose  hands 
the  arts  and  industries  had  reached  such  a  high  degree  of 
excellence ;  but  of  these  people  we  know  almost  nothing. 
They  did  not  build  imperishable  tombs,  such  as  have  fur- 
nished us  with  all  that  we  know  of  the  nobles  of  the  time; 
and  they  transacted  their  business  with  documents  written 
on  papyrus,  which  have  all  perished,  in  spite  of  the  enormous 
mass  of  such  materials  which  must  have  once  existed.  Later 
conditions  would  indicate  that  there  undoubtedly  was  a  class 
of  industrial  merchants  in  the  Old  Kingdom  who  produced 
and  sold  their  own  wares.  That  there  were  free  land- 
holders not  belonging  to  the  ranks  of  the  nobles  is  also  highly 
probable. 

The  social  unit  was  as  in  later  human  history,  the  family. 
A  man  possessed  but  one  legal  wife,  who  was  the  mother  of 
his  heirs.  She  was  in  every  respect  his  equal,  was  always 
treated  with  the  greatest  consideration,  and  participated  in 
the  pleasures  of  her  husband  and  her  children ;  the  affection- 
ate relations  existing  between  a  noble  and  his  wife  are  con- 
stantly and  noticeably  depicted  on  the  monuments  of  the  time. 
Such  relations  had  often  existed  from  the  earliest  childhood 
of  the  pair ;  for  it  was  customary  in  all  ranks  of  society  for 
a  youth  to  marry  his  sister.  Besides  the  legitimate  wife, 
the  head  of  his  household,  the  man  of  wealth  possessed  also 
a  harem,  the  inmates  of  which  maintained  no  legal  claim 
upon  their  lord.  The  harem  was  already  at  this  early  day  a 
recognized  institution  in  the  East,  and  nothing  immoral  was 
thought  of  in  connection  with  it.  The  children  of  the  time 
show  the  greatest  respect  for  their  parents,  and  it  was  the 
duty  of  every  son  to  maintain  the  tomb  of  his  father.  The 
respect  and  affection  of  one  's  parents  and  family  were  highly 
valued,  and  we  often  find  in  the  tombs  the  statement,  "  I  was 
one  beloved  of  his  father,  praised  of  his  mother,  whom  his 
brothers  and  sisters  loved. ,n  As  among  many  other  peoples, 
lL  357, 


86 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


the  natural  line  of  inheritance  was  through  the  eldest  daugh- 
ter, though  a  will  might  disregard  this.  The  closest  ties  of 
blood  were  through  the  mother,  and  a  man's  natural  pro- 
tector, even  in  preference  to  his  own  father,  was  the  father  of 
his  mother.  The  debt  of  a  son  to  the  mother  who  bore  and 
nourished  him,  cherished  and  cared  for  him  while  he  was 
being  educated,  is  dwelt  upon  with  emphasis  by  the  wise  men 
of  the  time.  While  there  was  probably  a  loose  form  of  mar- 
riage which  might  be  easily  dissolved,  a  form  presumably 
due  to  the  instability  of  fortune  among  the  slaves  and  the 
poorer  class,  yet  immorality  was  strongly  condemned  by  the 
best  sentiment.  The  wise  man  warns  the  youth,  "  Beware 
of  a  woman  from  abroad,  who  is  not  known  in  her  city.  Look 
not  upon  her  when  she  comes,  and  know  her  not.  She  is  like 
the  vortex  of  deep  waters,  whose  whirling  is  unfathomable. 
The  woman,  whose  husband  is  far  away,  she  writes  to  thee 
every  day.  If  there  is  no  witness  with  her  she  arises  and 
spreads  her  net.  0  deadly  crime,  if  one  hearkens!''1  To 
all  youths  marriage  and  the  foundation  of  a  household  are 
recommended  as  the  only  wise  course.  Yet  there  is  no 
doubt  that  side  by  side  with  these  wholesome  ideals  of  the 
wise  and  virtuous,  there  also  existed  wide-spread  and  gross 
immorality. 

The  outward  conditions  of  the  lower  class  were  not  such  as 
would  incline  toward  moral  living.  In  the  towns  their  low 
mud-brick,  thatch-roofed  houses  were  crowded  into  groups 
and  masses,  so  huddled  together  that  the  walls  were  often 
contiguous.  A  rough  stool,  a  rude  box  or  two,  and  a  few 
crude  pottery  jars  constituted  the  furniture  of  such  a  hovel. 
The  barracks  of  the  workmen  were  an  immense  succession  of 
small  mud-brick  chambers  under  one  roof,  with  open  pas- 
sages between  long  lines  of  such  rooms.  Whole  quarters  for 
the  royal  levies  of  workmen  were  erected  on  this  plan,  in  the 
pyramid-towns,  and  near  the  pyramids.  On  the  great 
estates,  the  life  of  the  poor  was  freer,  less  congested  and 
promiscuous,  and  undoubtedly  more  stable  and  wholesome. 

xPap.  de  Boulaq  I,  16,  13  ff.;  Erman,  Aegypten,  223. 


88 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


The  houses  of  the  rich,  the  noble  and  official  class  were 
large  and  commodious.  Metben,  a  great  noble  of  the  third 
dynasty,  built  a  house  over  three  hundred  and  thirty  feet 
square. 1  The  materials  were  wood  and  sun-dried  brick,  and 
the  construction  was  light  and  airy  as  suited  the  climate. 
There  were  many  latticed  windows,  on  all  sides  the  walls  of 
the  living  rooms  were  largely  a  mere  skeleton,  like  those  of 
many  Japanese  houses.  Against  winds  and  sandstorms, 
they  could  be  closed  by  dropping  gaily  coloured  hangings. 
Even  the  palace  of  the  king,  though  of  course  fortified,  was 
of  this  light  construction ;  hence  the  cities  of  ancient  Egypt 
have  disappeared  entirely  or  left  but  mounds  containing  a 
few  scanty  fragments  of  ruined  walls.  Beds,  chairs,  stools 
and  chests  of  ebony,  inlaid  with  ivory  in  the  finest  workman- 
ship, formed  the  chief  articles  of  furniture.  Little  or  no  use 
was  made  of  tables,  but  the  rich  vessels  of  alabaster,  and 
other  costly  stones,  of  copper,  or  sometimes  of  gold  and 
silver,  were  placed  upon  bases  and  standards  which  raised 
them  from  the  floor.  The  floors  were  covered  with  heavy 
rugs,  upon  which  guests,  especially  ladies,  frequently  sat,  in 
preference  to  the  chairs  and  stools.  The  food  was  rich  and 
varied;  we  find  that  even  the  dead  desired  in  the  hereafter, 
"  ten  different  kinds  of  meat,  five  kinds  of  poultry,  sixteen 
kinds  of  bread  and  cakes,  six  kinds  of  wine,  four  kinds  of 
beer,  eleven  kinds  of  fruit,  besides  all  sorts  of  sweets  and 
many  other  things."2  The  costume  of  these  ancient  lords 
was  simple  in  the  extreme;  it  consisted  merely  of  a  white 
linen  kilt,  secured  above  the  hips  with  a  girdle  or  band,  and 
hanging  often  hardly  to  the  knees,  or  again  in  another  style, 
to  the  calf  of  the  leg.  The  head  was  commonly  shaven,  and 
two  styles  of  wig,  one  short  and  curly,  the  other  with  long 
straight  locks  parted  in  the  middle,  were  worn  on  all  state 
occasions.  A  broad  collar,  often  inlaid  with  costly  stones, 
generally  hung  from  the  neck,  but  otherwise  the  body  was 
bare  from  the  waist  up.    With  long  stafT  in  hand,  the  gentle- 

»I,  173. 

2  Ptimichen  Grabpalast,  18-26;  Erman,  Aegypten,  265, 


THE  OLD  KINGDOM 


89 


man  of  the  day  was  ready  to  receive  his  visitors,  or  to  make 
a  tour  of  inspection  about  his  estate.  His  lady  and  her 
daughters  all  appeared  in  costumes  even  more  simple.  They 
were  clothed  in  a  thin,  close-fitting,  sleeveless,  white  linen  gar- 
ment hanging  from  the  breast  to  the  ankles,  and  supported 
by  two  bands  passing  over  the  shoulders.  The  skirt,  as  a 
modern  modiste  would  say  ' '  lacked  fullness, ' '  and  there  was 
barely  freedom  to  walk.  A  long  wig,  a  collar  and  necklace, 
and  a  pair  of  bracelets  completed  the  lady's  costume. 
Xeither  she  nor  her  lord  was  fond  of  sandals ;  although  they 
now  and  then  wore  them.  While  the  adults  thus  dispensed 
with  all  unnecessary  clothing,  as  we  should  expect  in  such  a 
climate,  the  children  were  allowed  to  run  about  without  any 
clothing  whatever.  The  peasant  wore  merely  a  breech-clout, 
which  he  frequently  cast  off  when  at  work  in  the  fields ;  his 
wife  was  clad  in  the  same  long  close-fitting  garment  worn  by 
the  wife  of  the  noble;  but  she  too  when  engaged  in  heavy 
work,  such  as  winnowing  grain,  cast  aside  all  clothing. 

The  Egyptian  was  passionately  fond  of  nature  and  of  out- 
door life.  The  house  of  the  noble  was  always  surrounded  by 
a  garden,  in  which  he  loved  to  plant  figs  and  palms  and 
sycamores,  laying  out  vineyards  and  arbours,  and  excavating 
before  the  house  a  pool,  lined  with  masonry  coping,  and  filled 
with  fish.  A  large  body  of  servants  and  slaves  were  in  at- 
tendance, both  in  house  and  garden;  a  chief  steward  had 
charge  of  the  entire  house  and  estate,  while  an  upper 
gardener  directed  the  slaves  in  the  care  and  culture  of  the 
garden.  This  was  the  noble's  paradise;  here  he  spent  his 
leisure  hours  with  his  family  and  friends,  playing  at 
draughts,  listening  to  the  music  of  harp,  pipe  and  lute,  watch- 
ing his  women  in  the  slow  and  stately  dance  of  the  time,  while 
his  children  sported  about  among  the  trees,  splashed  in  the 
pool,  or  played  with  ball,  doll  or  jumping-jack.  Again  in  a 
light  boat  of  papyrus  reeds,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and 
sometimes  by  one  of  his  children,  the  noble  delighted  to  float 
about  in  the  shade  of  the  tall  rushes,  in  the  inundated  marshes 
and  swamps.    The  myriad  life  that  teemed  and  swarmed  all 


90 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Fig.  37.    Villa  and  Garden  of  an  Egyptian  Noble  of  the  Old  Kingdom. 
(After  Perrot  and  Chipiez.) 

about  his  frail  craft  gave  him  the  keenest  pleasure.  While 
the  lady  plucked  water-lilies  and  lotus  flowers,  and  the  lad 
could  try  his  skill  at  catching  hoopoe  birds,  my  lord  launched 
his  boomerang  among  the  flocks  of  wild  fowl  that  fairly 
darkened  the  sky  above  him,  finding  his  sport  in  the  use  of 
the  difficult  weapon,  which  for  this  reason,  he  preferred  to 
the  more  effective  and  less  difficult  bow.  Or  again  he  seized 
his  double-pointed  fish-spear,  and  tried  his  skill  in  the  stream, 
endeavouring  if  possible  to  transfix  two  fish  at  once,  one  on 


THE   OLD  KINGDOM 


91 


each  of  the  two  prongs.  Sometimes  an  aggressive  hippo- 
potamus, or  a  troublesome  crocodile  demanded  the  long  har- 
poon with  rope  attached,  and  the  fishers  and  hunters  of  the 
marshes  were  summoned  to  assist  in  dispatching  the  dan- 
gerous brute.  Xot  infrequently  the  noble  undertook  the 
more  arduous  sport  of  the  desert,  where  he  might  bring 
down  the  huge  wild  ox  with  his  long  bow;  capture  alive 
numbers  of  antelopes,  gazelles,  oryxes,  ibexes,  wild  oxen,  wild 


Fig.  38.     A  Noble  of  the  Old  Kingdom  Hunting  Wild  Fowl  with  the 
Throw-stick  from  a  Skiff  of  Reeds  in  the  Papyrus  Marshes. 

asses,  ostriches  and  hares;  or  catch  fleeting  glimpses  of  the 
strange  beasts,  with  which  his  fancy  peopled  the  wilderness : 
the  gryphon,  a  quadruped  with  head  and  wings  of  a  bird, 
or  the  Sag,  a  lioness  with  the  head  of  a  hawk,  and  a  tail 
which  terminated  in  a  lotus  flower!  In  this  lighter  side  of 
the  Egyptian's  life,  his  love  of  nature,  his  wholesome  and 
sunny  view  of  life,  his  never  failing  cheerfulness  in  spite 
of  his  constant  and  elaborate  preparation  for  death,  we  find 
a  pervading  characteristic  of  his  nature,  which  is  so  evident 


92 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


in  his  art,  as  to  raise  it  far  above  the  sombre  heaviness  that 
pervades  the  contemporary  art  of  Asia. 

Some  five  centuries  of  uniform  government,  with  central- 
ized control  of  the  inundation,  in  the  vast  system  of  dykes 
and  irrigation  canals,  had  brought  the  productivity  of  the 
nation  to  the  highest  level;  for  the  economic  foundation  of 
this  civilization  in  the  Old  Kingdom,  as  in  all  other  periods 
of  Egyptian  history,  was  agriculture.    It  was  the  enormous 


Fig.  39.    Agriculture  in  the  Old  Kingdom. 

Above:  are  plowing,  breaking  clods,  and  sowing;  below:" the  sheep  are  being 
driven  across  the  sown  fields  in  order  to  trample  in  the  seed.  As  the  leading 
shepherd  wades  through  the  marshy  field  he  sings  to  the  sheep :  "  The  shepherd 
is  in  the  water  among  the  fish;  he  talks  with  the  nar-fish,  he  passes  the  time 
of  day  with  the  west -fish.  ..."    The  song  is  written  over  his  flock. 

harvests  of  wheat  and  barley  gathered  by  the  Egyptian 
from  the  inexhaustible  soil  of  his  valley,  which  made  pos- 
sible the  social  and  political  structure  which  we  have  been 
sketching.  Besides  grain,  the  extensive  vineyards  and  wide 
fields  of  succulent  vegetables,  which  formed  a  part  of  every 
estate,  greatly  augmented  the  agricultural  resources  of  the 
land.  Large  herds  of  cattle,  sheep,  goats,  droves  of  donkeys 
(for  the  horse  was  unknown),  and  vast  quantities  of  poultry, 


THE  OLD  KINGDOM 


93 


wild  fowl,  the  large  game  of  the  desert  already  noticed  and 
innumerable  Nile  fish,  added  not  inconsiderably  to  the  pro- 
duce of  the  field,  in  contributing  to  the  wealth  and  prosperity 
which  the  land  was  now  enjoying.  It  was  thus  in  field  and 
pasture  that  the  millions  of  the  kingdom  toiled  to  produce 
the  annual  wealth  by  which  its  economic  processes  continued. 
Other  sources  of  wealth  also  occupied  large  numbers  of 
workmen.  There  were  granite  quarries  at  the  first  cataract, 
sandstone  was  quarried  at  Silsileh,  the  finer  and  harder 
stones  chiefly  at  Hammamat  between  Coptos  and  the  Red 
Sea.  Alabaster  at  Hatnub  behind  Amarna,  and  limestone 
at  many  places,  particularly  at  Ayan  or  Troia  opposite  Mem- 


Fiq.  40.      A  Heed  in  the  Old  Kingdom,  Fording  a  Canal. 


phis.  They  brought  from  the  first  cataract  granite  blocks 
twenty  or  thirty  feet  long  and  fifty  or  sixty  tons  in  weight. 
They  drilled  the  toughest  of  stone,  like  diorite,  with  tubular 
drills  of  copper,  and  the  massive  lids  of  granite  sarcophagi 
were  sawn  with  long  copper  saws  which,  like  the  drills,  were 
reinforced  by  sand  or  emery.  Miners  and  quarrymen  were 
employed  in  large  numbers  during  the  expeditions  to  Sinai, 
for  the  purpose  of  procuring  copper,  the  green  and  blue 
malachite  used  in  fine  inlays,  the  turquoise  and  lapis-lazuli. 
The  source  of  iron,  which  was  already  used  for  tools  to  a 
limited  extent,  is  uncertain.  Bronze  was  not  yet  in  use. 
The  smiths  furnished  tools  of  copper  and  iron:  bolts,  nails, 
hinges  and  mountings  of  all  sorts  for  artisans  of  all  classes ; 


94 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


they  also  wrought  fine  copper  vessels  for  the  tables  of  the 
rich,  besides  splendid  copper  weapons.  They  achieved  mar- 
vels also  in  the  realm  of  plastic  art,  as  we  have  yet  to  see. 
Silver  came  from  abroad,  probably  from  Cilicia  in  Asia 
Minor;  it  was  therefore  even  more  rare  and  valuable  than 
gold.  The  quartz-veins  of  the  granite  mountains  along  the 
Eed  Sea  were  rich  in  gold,  and  it  was  taken  out  in  the  Wadi 
Foakhir,  on  the  Coptos  road.  It  was  likewise  mined  largely 
by  foreigners  and  obtained  in  trade  from  Nubia,  in  the  east- 
ern deserts  of  which  it  was  also  found.  Of  the  jewelry  worn 
by  the  Pharaoh  and  his  nobles,  in  the  Old  Kingdom,  almost 


Fig.  41.    Metalworkers'  Workshop  in  the  Old  Kingdom. 

Above:  at  the  left,  weighing  of  precious  metals  and  malachite;  in  the 
middle,  the  furnace  with  men  at  blow-pipes;  at  the  right,  casting  and  hammer- 
ing. Below:  putting  together  necklaces  and  costly  ornaments.  Note  the 
dwarves  employed  on  this  work. 


nothing  has  survived,  but  the  reliefs  in  the  tomb-chapels 
often  depict  the  gold-smith  at  his  work,  and  his  descendants 
in  the  Middle  Kingdom  have  left  works  which  show  that  the 
taste  and  cunning  of  the  first  dynasty  had  developed  without 
cessation  in  the  Old  Kingdom. 

For  the  other  important  industries  the  Nile  valley  fur- 
nished nearly  all  materials  indispensable  to  their  develop- 
ment. In  spite  of  the  ease  with  which  good  building  stone 
was  procured,  enormous  quantities  of  sun-dried  bricks  were 
turned  out  by  the  brick-yards,  as  they  still  are  at  the  present 


THE  OLD  KINGDOM 


95 


day,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  the  masons  erected  whole  quarters 
for  the  poor,  villas  of  the  rich,  magazines,  store-houses,  forts 
and  city  walls  of  these  cheap  and  convenient  materials.  In 
the  forestless  valley  the  chief  trees  were  the  date  palm,  the 
sycamore,  tamarisk  and  acacia,  none  of  which  furnished 
good  timber.  Wood  was  therefore  scarce  and  expensive,  but 
the  carpenters,  joiners  and  cabinet  makers  flourished  never- 
theless, and  those  in  the  employ  of  the  palace  or  on  the 
estates  of  the  nobles  wrought  wonders  in  the  cedar,  imported 
from  Syria,  and  the  ebony  and  ivory  which  came  in  from 
the  south.  In  every  town  and  on  every  large  estate  ship- 
building was  constant.  There  were  many  different  styles  of 
craft  from  the  heavy  cargo-boat  for  grain  and  cattle,  to  the 


Fig.  42.    Shipbuilding  in  the  Old  Kingdom. 


gorgeous  many-oared  "dahabiyeh, "  of  the  noble,  with  its 
huge  sail.  We  shall  find  these  shipwrights  building  the 
earliest  known  sea-going  vessels,  on  the  shores  of  the  Red 
Sea. 

While  the  artistic  craftsman  in  stone  still  produced  mag- 
nificent vessels,  vases,  jars,  bowls  and  platters  in  alabaster, 
diorite,  porphyry  and  other  costly  stones,  yet  his  work  was 
gradually  giving  way  to  the  potter,  whose  rich  blue-  and 
green-glazed  fayence  vessels  could  not  but  win  their  way. 
He  produced  also  vast  quantities  of  large  coarse  jars  for 
the  storage  of  oils,  wines,  meats  and  other  foods  in  the 
magazines  of  the  nobles  and  the  government;  while  the  use 
of  smaller  vessels  among  the  millions  of  the  lower  classes 


96 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


made  the  manufacture  of  pottery  one  of  the  chief  indus- 
tries of  the  country.  The  pottery  of  the  time  is  without 
decoration,  and  is  hardly  a  work  of  art.  Glass  was  still 
chiefly  employed  as  glaze  and  had  not  yet  been  developed 
as  an  independent  material.  In  a  land  of  pastures  and 
herds,  the  production  of  leather  was  of  course  understood. 
The  tanners  had  thoroughly  mastered  the  art  of  curing  the 
hides,  and  produced  fine  soft  skins,  which  they  dyed  in  all 
colours,  covering  stools  and  chairs,  beds  and  cushions,  and 
furnishing  gay  canopies  and  baldachins.  Flax  was  plen- 
tifully cultivated,  and  the  Pharaoh's  harvest  of  flax  was 
under  the  control  of  a  noble  of  rank.1    The  women  of  the 


Fig.  43.    Workmen  Drilling  out  Stone  Vessels. 

One  says,  "  This  is  a  very  beautiful  vessel  " ;  his  comrade  replies, 
deed."     Their  conversation  is  recorded  before  them. 


It  is  in- 


serfs  on  the  great  estates  were  the  spinners  and  weavers. 
Even  the  coarser  varieties  for  general  use  show  good  quality, 
but  surviving  specimens  of  the  royal  linens  are  of  such 
exquisite  fineness  that  the  ordinary  eye  requires  a  glass  to 
distinguish  them  from  silk,  and  the  limbs  of  the  wearer  could 
be  discerned  through  the  fabric.  Other  vegetable  fibres  fur- 
nished by  the  marshes  supported  a  large  industry  in  coarser 
textiles.    Among  these,  the  papyrus  was  the  most  useful, 

1  L  172,  L  5. 


THE  OLD  KINGDOM 


97 


Broad,  light  skiffs  were  made  of  it  by  binding  together  long 
bundles  of  these  reeds ;  rope  was  twisted  from  them,  as  also 
from  palm-fibre;  sandals  were  plaited,  and  mats  woven  of 
them;  but  above  all,  when  split  into  thin  strips,  it  was  pos- 
sible to  join  them  into  sheets  of  tough  paper.  That  the 
writing  of  Egypt  spread  to  Phoenicia  and  furnished  the 
classic  world  with  an  alphabet,  is  in  a  measure  due  to  this 
convenient  writing  material,  as  well  as  to  the  method  of 
writing  upon  it  with  ink.  While  a  royal  dispatch  in  cunei- 
form on  clay  often  weighed  eight  or  ten  pounds,  and  could 
not  be  carried  on  the  person  of  the  messenger,  a  papyrus-roll 
of  fifty  times  the  surface  afforded  by  the  clay  tablet  might 


Fig.  44.    Papyrus  Harvest  in  the  Old  Kingdom. 

On  the  left  the  stalks  are  plucked  by  two  men;  next  two  more  bind  them  in 
bundles,  and  four  men  then  carry  the  bundles  away. 


be  conveniently  carried  about  in  the  bosom,  employed  in 
business,  or  used  as  a  book.  That  its  importation  into  Phoe- 
nicia was  already  in  progress  in  the  twelfth  century  B.  C.1 
is  therefore  quite  intelligible.  The  manufacture  of  papyrus- 
paper  had  already  grown  into  a  large  and  flourishing  indus- 
try in  the  Old  Kingdom. 

The  Nile  was  alive  with  boats,  barges,  and  craft  of  all 
descriptions,  bearing  the  products  of  these  industries,  and 
of  field  and  pasture,  to  the  treasury  of  the  Pharaoh,  or  to 
the  markets  where  they  were  disposed  of.  Here  barter  was 
the  common  means  of  exchange:  a  crude  pot  for  a  fish,  a 
bundle  of  onions  for  a  fan;  a  wooden  box  for  a  jar  of  oint- 
ment (Fig.  46).  In  some  transactions,  however,  presumably 
those  involving  larger  values,  gold  and  copper  in  rings  of 
a  fixed  weight,  circulated  as  money,  and  stone  weights  were 

1  IV,  582;  see  below  p.  517. 
7 


98 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


already  marked  with  their  equivalence  in  such  rings.  This 
ring-money  is  the  oldest  currency  known.  Silver  was  rare 
and  more  valuable  than  gold.  Business 
had  already  reached  a  high  degree  of 
development;  books  and  accounts  were 
kept;  orders  and  receipts  were  given; 
wills  and  deeds  were  made;  and  written 
contracts  covering  long  periods  of  time 
were  entered  upon.  Every  noble  had  his 
corps  of  clerks  and  secretaries  and  the 
exchange  of  letters  and  official  documents 
with  his  colleagues  was  incessant.  Under 
the  scanty  remnants  of  the  sun-dried 
brick  houses  on  the  island  of  Elephan- 
tine, inhabited  by  the  nobles  of  the  south- 
ern border  in  the  twenty  sixth  century  B. 
C,  the  modern  peasants  recently  found 
the  remnants  of  the  household  papers 
and  business  documents  which  were  once 
filed  in  the  great  man's  office.  But  the 
ignorant  finders  so  mutilated  the  pre- 
cious records  that  only  fragments  have 
now  survived  (Fig.  45).  The  letters, 
records  of  legal  proceedings,  and  memo- 
randa, still  recognizable  among  them,  are 
now  being  published  by  the  Berlin  Mu- 
seum, where  the  papyri  are  preserved. 
Under  such  circumstances,  an  education  in  the  learning 
of  the  time  was  indispensable  to  an  official  career.  Con- 
nected with  the  treasury,  for  whose  multifold  records  so 
many  skilled  scribes  were  necessary,  there  were  schools 
where  lads  received  the  education  and  the  training  which 
fitted  them  for  the  scribal  offices.  Learning  possessed  but 
one  aspect  for  the  Egyptian,  namely:  its  practical  useful- 
ness. An  ideal  pleasure  in  the  search  for  truth,  the  pursuit 
of  science  for  its  own  sake,  were  unknown  to  him.  The 
learned  equipment  was  an  advantage  which  lifted  a  youth 


Fig.  45.  Two  Col- 
umns   FROM  AN 

Old  Kingdom 
Legal  Docu- 
ment. 

Written  in  Hier- 
atic on  Papyrus. 
See  p.  81.  (Orig- 
inal in  Berlin.) 


THE  OLD  KINGDOM 


99 


above  all  other  classes  in  the  opinion  of  the  scribe,  and  for 
that  reason,  the  boy  must  be  early  put  into  the  school  and 
diligently  kept  to  his  tasks.  While  precept  was  incessantly 
in  the  lad 's  ears,  the  master  did  not  stop  with  this ;  his  prin- 
ciple was,  "A  boy's  ears  are  on  his  back,  and  he  hearkens 
when  he  is  beaten."1  The  content  of  the  instruction,  besides 
innumerable  moral  precepts,  many  of  them  most  wholesome 
and  rational,  was  chiefly  the  method  of  writing.  The  elabo- 
rate hieroglyphic  with  its  numerous  animal  and  human 
figures,  such  as  the  reader  has  doubtless  often  seen  on  the 
monuments  in  our  museums,  or  in  works  on  Egypt,  was  too 
slow  and  labourious  a  method  of  writing  for  the  needs  of 
everyday  business.  The  attempt  to  write  these  figures  rap- 
idly with  ink  upon  papyrus  had  gradually  resulted  in  reduc- 
ing each  sign  to  a  mere  outline,  much  rounded  off  and  abbre- 
viated. This  cursive  business  hand,  which  we  call  "hier- 
atic," had  already  begun  under  the  earliest  dynasties,  and 
by  the  rise  of  the  Old  Kingdom,  it  had  developed  into  a 
graceful  and  rapid  system  of  writing,  which  showed  no 
nearer  resemblance  to  the  hieroglyphic  than  does  our  own 
hand-writing  to  our  print.  The  introduction  of  this  system 
into  the  administration  of  government  and  the  transaction 
of  every  day  business,  produced  profound  changes  in  gov- 
ernment and  society,  and  created  for  all  time  the  class  dis- 
tinction between  the  illiterate  and  the  learned,  which  is  still 
a  problem  of  modern  society.  It  was  the  acquirement  of 
this  method  of  writing  which  enabled  the  lad  to  enter  upon 
the  coveted  official  career  as  a  scribe  or  overseer  of  a  maga- 
zine, or  steward  of  an  estate.  Hence  the  master  put  before 
the  boy  model-letters,  proverbs,  and  literary  compositions, 
which  he  labouriously  copied  into  his  roll,  the  copy-book  of 
this  ancient  school-boy.  A  large  quantity  of  these  copy- 
books from  the  Empire,  some  fifteen  hundred  years  after  the 
fall  of  the  Old  Kingdom,  has  been  found ;  and  many  a  com- 
position which  would  otherwise  have  been  lost,  has  thus  sur- 
vived, in  the  uncertain  hand  of  a  pupil  in  the  scribal  schools. 

1  Pap.  Anast.  3.3  =  Ibid.  5,  8. 


100 


A  HISTORY  OP  EGYPT 


They  can  easily  be  identified  by  the  corrections  of  the  master 
on  the  margin.  When  he  could  write  well,  the  lad  was 
placed  in  charge  of  some  official,  in  whose  office  he  assisted, 
gradually  learning  the  routine  and  the  duties  of  the  scribe's 
life,  until  he  was  himself  competent  to  assume  some  office  at 
the  bottom  of  the  ladder. 

Education  thus  consisted  solely  of  the  practically  useful 
equipment  for  an  official  career.  Knowledge  of  nature  and 
of  the  external  world  as  a  whole  was  sought  only  as  necessity 
prompted  such  search.  As  we  have  already  intimated,  it  never 
occurred  to  the  Egyptian  to  enter  upon  the  search  for  truth 
for  its  own  sake.  Under  these  circumstances,  the  science 
of  the  time,  if  we  may  speak  of  it  as  such  at  all,  was  such  a 
knowledge  of  natural  conditions  as  enabled  the  active  men 
of  this  age  to  accomplish  those  practical  tasks  with  which 
they  were  daily  confronted.  They  had  much  practical  ac- 
quaintance with  astronomy,  developed  out  of  that  knowl- 
edge which  had  enabled  their  ancestors  to  introduce  a 
rational  calendar  nearly  thirteen  centuries  before  the  rise  of 
the  Old  Kingdom.  They  had  already  mapped  the  heavens, 
identified  the  more  prominent  fixed  stars,  and  developed  a 
system  of  observation  with  instruments  sufficiently  accurate 
to  determine  the  positions  of  stars  for  practical  purposes; 
but  they  had  produced  no  theory  of  the  heavenly  bodies  as 
a  whole,  nor  would  it  ever  have  occurred  to  the  Egyptian 
that  such  an  attempt  was  useful  or  worth  the  trouble.  In 
mathematics  all  the  ordinary  arithmetical  processes  were 
demanded  in  the  daily  transactions  of  business  and  govern- 
ment, and  had  long  since  come  into  common  use  among  the 
scribes.  Fractions,  however,  caused  difficulty.  The  scribes 
could  operate  only  with  those  having  one  as  the  numerator, 
and  all  other  fractions  were  of  necessity  resolved  into  a 
series  of  several,  each  with  one  as  the  numerator.  The  only 
exception  was  two  thirds,  which  they  had  learned  to  use 
without  so  resolving  it.  Elementary  algebraic  problems  were 
also  solved  without  difficulty.  In  geometry  they  were  able 
to  master  the  simpler  problems,  though  the  area  of  a  trape- 


THE  OLD  KINGDOM 


101 


zoid  caused  some  difficulties  and  errors,  while  the  area  of 
the  circle  had  been  determined  with  close  accuracy.  The 
necessity  of  determining  the  content  of  a  pile  of  grain  had 
led  to  a  roughly  approximate  result  in  the  computation  of 
the  content  of  the  hemisphere,  and  a  circular  granary  to 
that  of  the  cylinder.  But  no  theoretical  problems  were  dis- 
cussed, and  the  whole  science  attempted  only  those  problems 
which  were  continually  met  in  daily  life.  The  laying  out 
of  a  ground-plan  like  the  square  base  of  the  Great  Pyramid 
could  be  accomplished  with  amazing  accuracy,  and  the 
orientation  displays  a  nicety  that  almost  rivals  the  results  of 
modern  instruments.  A  highly  developed  knowledge  of  me- 
chanics was  thus  at  the  command  of  the  architect  and  crafts- 
man. The  arch  was  employed  in  masonry  and  can  be  dated 
as  far  back  as  the  thirtieth  century  B.  C,  the  oldest  dated 
arches  known  (Fig.  47).  In  the  application  of  power  to  the 
movement  of  great  monuments,  only  the  simplest  devices 
were  employed;  the  pulley  was  unknown  and  probably  the 
roller  also.  Medicine  was  already  in  possession  of  much 
empirical  wisdom,  displaying  close  and  accurate  observa- 
tion; the  calling  of  the  physician  already  existed  and  the 
court  physician  of  the  Pharaoh  was  a  man  of  rank  and  in- 
fluence. His  recipes  were  many  of  them  rational  and  useful ; 
others  were  naively  fanciful,  like  the  prescription  of  a  decoc- 
tion of  the  hair  of  a  black  calf  to  prevent  gray  hair.  They 
had  already  been  collected  and  recorded  in  papyrus  rolls,1 
and  the  recipes  of  this  age  were  famous  for  their  virtue  in 
later  times.  Some  of  them  finally  crossed  with  the  Greeks 
to  Europe,  where  they  are  still  in  use  among  the  peasantry 
of  the  present  day.  That  which  precluded  any  progress 
toward  real  science  was  the  belief  in  magic,  which  later 
began  to  dominate  all  the  practice  of  the  physician.  There 
was  no  great  distinction  between  the  physician  and  the 
magician.  All  remedies  were  administered  with  more  or 
less  reliance  upon  magical  charms;  and  in  many  cases  the 
magical  "  hocus  pocus"  of  the  physician  was  thought  to  be 

1 1,  246. 


102 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


of  itself  more  effective  than  any  remedy  that  could  be  admin- 
istered. Disease  was  due  to  hostile  spirits,  and  against 
these  only  magic  could  avail. 

Art  flourished  as  nowhere  else  in  the  ancient  world.  Here 
again  the  Egyptian's  attitude  of  mind  was  not  wholly  that 
which  characterized  the  art  of  the  later  Greek  world.  Art 
as  the  pursuit  and  the  production  exclusively  of  the  ideally 
beautiful,  was  unknown  to  him.  He  loved  beauty  as  found 
in  nature,  his  spirit  demanded  such  beauty  in  his  home  and 
surroundings.  The  lotus  blossomed  on  the  handle  of  his 
spoon,  and  his  wine  sparkled  in  the  deep  blue  calyx  of  the 
same  flower;  the  muscular  limb  of  the  ox  in  carved  ivory 
upheld  the  couch  upon  which  he  slept,  the  ceiling  over  his 
head  was  a  starry  heaven  resting  upon  palm  trunks,  each 
crowned  with  its  graceful  tuft  of  drooping  foliage ;  or  papy- 
rus-stems rose  from  the  floor  to  support  the  azure  roof  upon 
their  swaying  blossoms;  doves  and  butterflies  flitted  across 
his  in-door  sky;  his  floors  were  frescoed  with  the  opulent 
green  of  rich  marsh-grasses,  with  fish  gliding  among  their 
roots,  where  the  wild  ox  tossed  his  head  at  the  birds  twit- 
tering on  the  swaying  grass-tops,  as  they  strove  in  vain  to 
drive  away  the  stealthy  weasel  creeping  up  to  plunder  their 
nests.  Everywhere  the  objects  of  every  day  life  in  the 
homes  of  the  rich  showed  unconscious  beauty  of  line  and  fine 
balance  of  proportion,  while  the  beauty  of  nature  and  of 
out-of-door  life  which  spoke  to  the  beholder  in  the  decora- 
tion on  every  hand,  lent  a  certain  distinction  even  to  the 
most  commonplace  objects.  The  Egyptian  thus  sought  to 
beautify  and  to  make  beautiful  all  objects  of  utility,  but  all 
such  objects  served  some  practical  use.  He  was  not  inclined 
to  make  a  beautiful  thing  solely  for  its  beauty.  In  sculpture, 
therefore,  the  practical  dominated.  The  splendid  statues 
of  the  Old  Kingdom  were  not  made  to  be  erected  in  the 
market  place,  but  solely  to  be  masoned  up  in  the  mastaba- 
tomb,  that  they  might  be  of  practical  advantage  to  the  de- 
ceased in  the  hereafter,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  preceding 
chapter.    It  was  this  motive  chiefly  to  which  the  marvellous 


Fig.  50—  LIMESTONE  STATUE  OF  HEMSET. 
(Louvre;  after  Capart,  Recueil  des  Monuments.} 


THE  OLD  KINGDOM 


103 


development  of  portrait  sculpture  in  the  Old  Kingdom  was 
due. 

The  sculptor  might  either  model  his  subject  with  faith- 
ful delineation,  an  intimate,  personal  style;  or  again  depict 
him  as  a  conventional  type,  a  formal,  typical  style.  Both 
styles,  representing  the  same  man,  though  strikingly  dif- 
ferent, may  appear  in  the  same  tomb.  Every  device  was 
adopted  to  increase  the  resemblance  to  life.  The  whole 
statue  was  colored  in  the  natural  hues,  the  eyes  were  inlaid 
in  rock-crystal,  and  the  vivacity  with  which  these  Memphite 
sculptures  were  instinct,  has  never  been  surpassed.  The 
finest  of  the  sitting  statues  is  the  well-known  portrait  of 
Khafre  (Fig.  48),  the  builder  of  the  second  pyramid  of 
Gizeh.  The  sculptor  has  skilfully  met  the  limitations  im- 
posed upon  him  by  the  intensely  hard  and  refractory  material 
(diorite),  and  while  obliged,  therefore,  to  treat  the  subject 
summarily,  has  slightly  emphasized  salient  features,  lest  the 
work  should  lack  pronounced  character.  The  unknown  mas- 
ter, who  must  take  his  place  among  the  world's  great  sculp- 
tors, while  contending  with  technical  difficulties  which  no 
modern  sculptor  attempts,  has  here  given  a  real  king  imper- 
ishable form,  and  shown  us  with  incomparable  skill  the 
divine  and  impassive  calm  with  which  the  men  of  the  time 
had  endued  their  sovereign.  In  softer  material,  the  sculptor 
gained  a  freer  hand,  of  which  one  of  the  best  examples  is  the 
sitting  figure  of  Hemset  in  the  Louvre  (Fig.  50).  It  is 
surprisingly  vivacious,  in  spite  of  the  summarization  of  the 
body,  an  insufficiency  which  is  characteristic  of  all  Old  King- 
dom sculpture  in  the  round.  It  is  the  head  which  appeals 
to  the  artist  as  the  most  individual  element  in  his  model,  and 
on  the  head  therefore  he  exhausts  all  his  skill.  These  forms 
of  kings  and  nobles  show  little  variety  in  attitude;  indeed 
there  is  but  one  other  posture  in  which  a  person  of  rank 
could  be  depicted.  Perhaps  the  best  example  of  it  is  the 
figure  of  the  priest  Ranofer,  a  speaking  likeness  of  the  proud 
noble  of  the  time  (Fig.  49).  While  the  character  of  the 
subject  does  not  appeal  to  us,  nevertheless  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  portraits  of  the  Old  Kingdom  is  the  sleek,  well- 


ru4 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


fed,  self-satisfied  old  overseer,  whose  wooden  statue,  like  all 
those  that  we  have  thus  far  noticed,  is  in  the  Cairo  Museum 
(Fig.  51).  As  every  one  now  knows,  he  has  been  dubbed 
the  "Shekh  el-beled"  or  "Sheik  of  the  village,"  because  the 
natives  who  excavated  the  figure,  discovered  in  the  face  such 
a  striking  resemblance  to  the  sheik  of  their  village,  that  they 
all  cried  out  with  one  accord,  1 1  Shekh  el-beled !"  In  depict- 
ing the  servants,  who  were  to  accompany  the  deceased  noble 
into  the  hereafter,  the  sculptor  was  freed  from  the  most 
tyrannical  of  the  conventions  which  governed  the  posture  of 
the  noble  himself.  With  great  life-likeness  he  has  wrought 
the  miniatures  of  the  household  servants,  as  they  continue  in 
the  tomb  the  work  which  they  had  been  accustomed  to  do 
for  their  lord  in  his  home.  Even  the  noble 's  secretary  must 
accompany  him  into  the  next  world,  and  such  is  the  vivacity 
with  which  the  sculptor  has  fashioned  the  famous  "Louvre 
scribe"  (Fig.  52),  that  as  one  looks  into  the  shrewd,  hard- 
featured  countenance,  it  would  hardly  be  a  surprise  if  the 
reed  pen  should  begin  to  move  nimbly  across  the  papyrus- 
roll  upon  his  knees,  as  he  resumes  the  dictation  of  his  master, 
interrupted  now  these  five  thousand  years.  Superb  animal 
forms,  like  the  granite  lion's-head  from  the  sun- temple  of 
Nuserre  (Fig.  57)  were  also  wrought  in  the  hardest  stone. 

It  had  never  been  supposed  that  the  artists  of  this  remote 
age  would  attempt  so  ambitious  a  task  as  the  production  of 
a  life-size  statue  in  metal;  but  the  sculptors  and  copper- 
smiths of  the  court  of  Pepi  I,  in  celebration  of  the  king's 
first  jubilee,  accomplished  even  this  (Figs.  53-54).  Over  a 
wooden  core  they  wrought  the  face  and  figure  of  the  king, 
in  beaten  copper,  inserting  eyes  of  obsidian  and  white  lime- 
stone. In  spite  of  the  ruinous  state  in  which  it  now  is,  in 
spite  of  fracture  and  oxidation,  the  head  is  still  one  of  the 
strongest  portraits  which  have  survived  from  antiquity. 
The  gold-smith  also  invaded  the  realm  of  plastic  art.  In 
the  "  gold-house "  as  his  workshop  was  called,  he  turned 
sculptor,  and  produced  for  the  temples  such  cultus-statues 
of  the  gods  as  the  magnificent  figure  of  the  sacred  hawk  of 


Fig.  53.— LIFE-SIZF  STATUE  OF  PEPI   I,  WITH  FIGURE  OF  HIS  SON;   BOiii  OF  BEATEN 

COPPER. 


(Cairo  Museum.) 


Fig.  54—  HEAD  OF  THE  COPPER  STATUE  OF  PEPI  I, 
SHOWING  EYES  OF  INLAID  ROCK  CRYSTAL. 

(Cairo  Museum.) 


Fig.  55.— PAINTING  OF  GEESE  FROM  AN  OLD  KINGDOM  TOMB  AT  MEdOm. 
(The  panel  has  been  cut  in  the  middle  ;  the  two  qjeese  eating  should  face  each  other.    Cairo  Museum.) 


THE  OLD  KINGDOM 


105 


Hieraconpolis  (Fig.  58),  of  which  Quibell  found  the  head 
in  the  temple  at  that  place.  The  body  of  beaten  copper  had 
perished;  but  the  head,  crowned  with  a  circlet  and  sur- 
mounted by  two  tall  feather-plumes,  the  whole  wrought  in 
beaten  gold,  was  practically  intact.  The  head  is  of  one  piece 
of  metal,  and  the  eyes  are  the  two  polished  ends  of  a  single 
rod  of  obsidian,  which  passes  through  the  head  from  eye 
to  eye. 

In  relief,  now  greatly  in  demand  for  temple  decoration, 
and  the  chapel  of  the  mastaba-tomb,  the  Egyptian  was  con- 
fronted by  the  problem  of  foreshortening  and  perspective. 
He  must  put  objects  having  roundness  and  thickness,  upon 
a  flat  surface.  How  this  should  be  done  had  been  deter- 
mined for  him  before  the  beginning  of  the  Old  Kingdom.  A 
conventional  style  had  already  been  established  before  the 
third  dynasty,  and  that  style  was  now  sacred  and  inviolable 
tradition.  While  a  certain  freedom  of  development  sur- 
vived, that  style  in  its  fundamentals  persisted  throughout 
the  history  of  Egyptian  art,  even  after  the  artist  had  learned 
to  perceive  its  shortcomings.  The  age  which  produced  it 
had  not  learned  to  maintain  one  point  of  view  in  the  drawing 
of  any  given  scene  or  object;  two  different  points  of  view 
were  combined  in  the  same  figure :  in  drawing  a  man  a  front 
view  of  the  eyes  and  shoulders  was  regularly  placed  upon  a 
profile  of  the  trunk  and  legs.  This  unconscious  incongruity 
was  afterward  also  extended  to  temporal  relations,  and  suc- 
cessive instants  of  time  were  combined  in  the  same  scene. 
Accepting  these  limitations,  the  reliefs  of  the  Old  Kingdom, 
which  are  really  slightly  modelled  drawings,  are  often  sculp- 
tures of  rare  beauty  (Fig.  56).  It  is  from  the  scenes  which 
the  Memphite  sculptor  placed  on  the  walls  of  the  mastaba- 
chapels  that  we  learn  all  that  we  know  of  the  life  and  cus- 
toms of  the  Old  Kingdom.  The  exquisite  modelling,  of 
which  such  a  sculptor  was  capable,  is  perhaps  best  exhib- 
ited in  the  wooden  doors  of  Hesire  (Fig.  59).  All  such 
reliefs  were  coloured,  so  that  when  completed,  we  may  call 
them  raised  and  modelled  paintings;  at  least  they  do  not 


106 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


fall  within  the  domain  of  plastic  art,  as  do  Greek  reliefs. 
Painting  was  also  practiced  independently,  and  the  familiar 
line  of  geese  from  a  tomb  at  Medum  (Fig.  55)  well  illustrates 
the  strength  and  freedom  with  which  the  Memphite  of  the 
time  could  depict  the  animal  forms  with  which  he  was  famil- 
iar. The  characteristic  poise  of  the  head,  the  slow  walk, 
the  sudden  droop  of  the  neck  as  the  head  falls  to  seize  the 
worm,  all  these  are  the  work  of  a  strong  and  confident 
draughtsman,  long  schooled  in  his  art. 

The  sculpture  of  the  Old  Kingdom  may  be  characterized 
as  a  natural  and  unconscious  realism,  exercised  with  a  tech- 
nical ability  of  the  highest  order.  In  the  practice  of  this 
art,  the  sculptor  of  the  Old  Kingdom  compares  favourably 
even  with  modern  artists.  He  was  the  only  artist  in  the 
early  orient  who  could  put  the  human  body  into  stone,  and 
living  in  a  society  such  that  he  was  daily  familiarized  with 
the  nude  form,  he  treated  it  with  sincerity  and  frankness.  I 
cannot  forbear  quoting  the  words  of  an  unprejudiced  clas- 
sical archaeologist,  M.  Charles  Perrot,  who  says  of  the  Mem- 
phite sculptors  of  the  Old  Kingdom,  "It  must  be  acknowl- 
edged that  they  produced  works  which  are  not  to  be  sur- 
passed in  their  way  by  the  greatest  portraits  of  modern 
Europe."1  The  sculpture  of  the  Old  Kingdom,  however, 
was  superficial;  it  was  not  interpretative,  did  not  embody 
ideas  in  stone,  and  shows  little  contemplation  of  the  emotions 
and  forces  of  life.  It  is  characteristic  of  the  age  that  we  must 
speak  of  this  Memphite  art  as  a  whole.  We  know  none  of  its 
greatest  masters,  and  only  the  names  of  an  artist  or  two 
during  the  whole  period  of  Egyptian  history. 

It  is  only  very  recently  that  we  have  been  able  to  discern 
the  fundamentals  of  Old  Kingdom  architecture.  Too  little 
has  been  preserved  of  the  house  and  palace  of  the  time  to 
permit  of  safe  generalizations  upon  the  light  and  airy  style 
of  architecture  which  they  represent.  It  is  only  the  mas- 
sive stone  structures  of  this  age  which  have  been  preserved. 
Besides  the  mastabas  and  pyramids,  which  we  have  already 

1  Perrot  and  Chipiez,  History  of  Art,  II,  p.  194. 


bio.  56. —RELIEFS   FROM   THE   INTERIOR   OF   AN   OLD    KINGDOM    MA  ST  ABA  CHAPEL, 
DEPICTING  HERDS  AND  FLOCKS.    (Berlin  Museum.) 


—DECORATIVE    HEAD    OF   LION,  IX 
GRANITE.    (Cairo  Museum.) 


Fig.  58.— GOLDEN  HAWK  OF 
HIERACONPOLIS.  (Cairo 
Museum.) 


59.— WOODEN  PANEL  OF  HESIRE. 
(Cairo  Museum.) 


Fig.  60. -FIFTH  DYNASTY  COL- 
UMNS.  CLUSTER  OF  PAPYRUS 
STEMS  (left)  AND  PALM  CAPI- 
TAL (right).    Berlin  Museum. 


THE  OLD  KINGDOM 


107 


briefly  noticed,  the  temple  is  the  great  architectural  achieve- 
ment of  the  Old  Kingdom.  Its  arrangement  has  been 
touched  upon  in  the  preceding  chapter.  The  architect  em- 
ployed only  straight  lines,  these  being  perpendiculars  and 
horizontals,  very  boldly  and  felicitously  combined.  The  arch, 
although  known,  was  not  employed  as  a  member  in  archi- 
tecture. In  order  to  carry  the  roof  across  the  void,  either 
the  simplest  of  stone  piers,  a  square  pillar  of  a  single  block 
of  granite  was  employed,  or  an  already  elaborate  and  beau- 
tiful monolithic  column  of  granite  supported  the  architrave. 
These  columns,  the  earliest  known  in  the  history  of  archi- 
tecture, must  have  been  employed  before  the  Old  Kingdom, 
for  they  are  fully  developed  in  the  Fifth  Dynasty.  They 
represent  a  palm-tree  (Fig.  60),  the  capital  being  the  crown 
of  foliage;  or  they  are  conceived  as  a  bundle  of  papyrus 
stalks,  bearing  the  architrave  upon  the  cluster  of  buds  at  the 
top,  which  form  the  capital  (Figs.  60,  61).  The  proportions 
are  faultless,  and  surrounded  with  such  exquisite  colonnades 
as  these,  flanked  by  brightly  coloured  reliefs,  the  courts  of 
the  Old  Kingdom  temples  belong  to  the  noblest  architectural 
conceptions  bequeathed  to  us  by  antiquity.  Egypt  thus 
became  the  source  of  columned  architecture.  While  the 
Babylonian  builders  displayed  notable  skill  in  giving  varied 
architectural  effect  to  great  masses,  they  were  limited  to  this, 
and  the  colonnade  was  unknown  to  them;  whereas  the 
Egyptian  already  at  the  close  of  the  fourth  millennium  before 
Christ  had  solved  the  fundamental  problem  of  great  architec- 
ture, developing  with  the  most  refined  artistic  sense  and  the 
greatest  mechanical  skill  the  treatment  of  voids,  and  thus 
originating  the  colonnade. 

The  age  was  dealing  with  material  things  and  developing 
material  resources,  and  in  such  an  age  literature  has  little 
opportunity;  it  was  indeed  hardly  born  as  yet.  The  sages 
of  the  court,  the  wise  old  viziers,  Kegemne,  Imhotep,  and 
Ptahhotep,  had  put  into  proverbs  the  wholesome  wisdom  of 
life,  which  a  long  career  had  taught  them,  and  these  were 
probably  already  circulating  in  written  form,  although  the 


Fig.  61.    Elevation  of  Part  of  the  Colonnade  Surrounding  the  Court  of 
the  Pyramid  Temple  of  Nuserre  (Fifth  Dynasty).     (After  Borchardt. ) 

108 


THE  OLD  KINGDOM 


109 


oldest  manuscript  of  such  lore  which  we  possess,  dates  from 
the  Middle  Kingdom.  The  priestly  scribes  of  the  Fifth 
Dynasty  compiled  the  annals  of  the  oldest  kings,  from  the 
bare  names  of  the  kings,  who  ruled  the  two  prehistoric  king- 
doms, to  the  Fifth  Dynasty  itself ;  but  it  was  a  bald  catalogue 
of  events,  achievements  and  temple  donations,  without  lit- 
erary form.  It  is  the  oldest  surviving  fragment  of  royal 
annals.  As  the  desire  to  perpetuate  the  story  of  a  dis- 
tinguished life  increased,  the  nobles  began  to  record  in  their 
tombs  simple  narratives  characterized  by  a  primitive  direct- 
ness, in  long  successions  of  simple  sentences,  each  showing 
the  same  construction,  but  lacking  expressed  connectives.1 
Events  and  honours  common  to  the  lives  of  the  leading  nobles 
were  related  by  them  all  in  the  identical  words,  so  that  con- 
ventional phrases  had  already  gained  place  in  literature  not 
unlike  the  inviolable  canons  of  their  graphic  art.  There  is  no 
individuality.  The  mortuary  texts  in  the  pyramids  display 
sometimes  a  rude  force,  and  an  almost  savage  fire.  They 
contain  scattered  fragments  of  the  old  myths  but  whether 
these  had  then  enjoyed  more  than  an  oral  existence  we 
do  not  know.  Mutilated  religious  poems,  exhibiting  in  form 
the  beginnings  of  parallelism,  are  imbedded  in  this  literature, 
and  are  doubtless  examples  of  the  oldest  poetry  of  earliest 
Egypt.  All  this  literature,  both  in  form  and  content,  betrays 
its  origin  among  men  of  the  early  world.  Folk  songs,  the 
offspring  of  the  toiling  peasant's  flitting  fancy,  or  of  the  per- 
sonal devotion  of  the  household  servant,  were  common  then 
as  now,  and  in  two  of  them  which  have  survived,  we  hear 
the  shepherd  talking  with  the  sheep,2  or  the  bearers  of  the 
sedan-chair  assuring  their  lord  in  song  that  the  vehicle  is 
lighter  to  them  when  he  occupies  it,  than  when  it  is  empty.3 
Music  also  was  cultivated;  and  there  was  a  director  of  the 
royal  music  at  the  court.  The  instruments  were  a  small 
harp,  on  which  the  performer  played  sitting,  and  two  kinds 
of  flute,  a  larger  and  a  smaller.    Instrumental  music  was 

M,  292-4,  306-315,  319-324.  2  See  infra,  Fig.  39. 

8Zeitscbrift  38,  65;  Davies,  Der  el-Gebrawi,  II,  pi.  VIII. 


110 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


always  accompanied  by  the  voice,  reversing  modern  custom, 
and  the  full  orchestra  consisted  of  two  harps  and  two  flutes, 
a  large  and  a  small  one.  Of  the  character  and  nature  of 
the  music  played  or  to  what  extent  the  scale  was  understood, 
we  can  say  nothing. 

Such,  in  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  condense  our 
present  knowledge,  was  the  active  and  aggressive  age  which 
unfolds  before  us,  as  the  kings  of  the  Thinite  dynasties  give 
way  to  those  of  Memphis.  It  now  remains  for  us  to  trace 
the  career  of  this,  the  most  ancient  state,  whose  constitution 
is  still  discernible. 


CHAPTER  VI 


THE  PYRAMID  BUILDERS 

At  the  close  of  the  so-called  Second  Dynasty,  early  in  the 
thirtieth  century  B.  C,  the  Thinites  were  finally  dislodged 
from  the  position  of  power  which  they  had  maintained  so 
well  for  over  four  centuries,  according  to  Manetho,  and  a 
Memphite  family,  whose  home  was  the  ' '  White  Wall ' '  gained 
the  ascendancy.  But  there  is  evidence  that  the  sharp  dynas- 
tic division  recorded  by  Manetho  never  took  place,  and  this 
final  supremacy  of  Memphis  may  have  been  nothing  more 
than  a  gradual  transition  thither  by  the  Thinites  themselves. 
In  any  case  the  great  queen,  Nemathap,  the  wife  of  King 
Khasekhemui,  who  was  probably  the  last  king  of  the  Second 
Dynasty,  was  evidently  the  mother  of  Zoser,  with  whose 
accession  the  predominance  of  Memphis  becomes  apparent. 
During  this  Memphite  supremacy,  the  development  which 
the  Thinites  had  pushed  so  vigourously,  was  skilfully  and 
ably  fostered.  For  over  five  hundred  years  the  kingdom 
continued  to  flourish,  but  of  these  five  centuries  only  the  last 
two  have  left  us  even  scanty  literary  remains,  and  we  are 
obliged  to  draw  our  meagre  knowledge  of  its  first  three  cen- 
turies almost  entirely  from  material  documents,  the  monu- 
ments which  it  has  left  us.  In  some  degree  such  a  task  is 
like  attempting  to  reconstruct  a  history  of  Athens  in  the  age 
of  Pericles,  based  entirely  upon  the  temples,  sculptures,  vases, 
and  other  material  remains  surviving  from  his  time.  While 
the  rich  intellectual,  literary,  and  political  life  which  was 
then  unfolding  in  Athens  involved  a  mental  endowment  and 
a  condition  of  state  and  society  which  Egypt,  even  at  her 
best,  never  knew,  yet  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that,  tremen- 
dous as  is  the  impression  which  we  receive  from  the  monu- 

lll 


112 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


ments  of  the  Old  Kingdom,  they  are  but  the  skeleton,  upon 
which  we  might  put  flesh,  and  endue  the  whole  with  life,  if 
but  the  chief  literary  monuments  of  the  time  had  survived. 
It  is  a  difficult  task  to  see  behind  these  Titanic  achievements, 
the  busy  world  of  commerce,  industry,  administration,  so- 
ciety, art,  and  literature  out  of  which  they  grew.  Of  half  a 
millennium  of  political  change,  of  overthrow  and  usurpation, 
of  growth  and  decay  of  institutions,  of  local  governors,  help- 
less under  the  strong  grasp  of  the  Pharaoh,  or  shaking  off 
the  restraint  of  a  weak  monarch,  and  developing  into  inde- 
pendent barons,  so  powerful  at  last  as  to  bring  in  the  final 
dissolution  of  the  state;— of  all  this  we  gain  but  fleeting  and 
occasional  glimpses,  where  more  must  be  guessed  than  can 
be  known. 

The  first  prominent  figure  in  the  Old  Kingdom  is  that  of 
Zoser,  with  whom  as  we  have  said  the  Third  Dynasty  arose. 
It  was  evidently  his  forceful  government  which  firmly  estab- 
lished Memphite  supremacy.  He  continued  the  exploitation 
of  the  copper  mines  in  Sinai,  while  in  the  south  he  extended 
the  frontier.  If  we  may  credit  a  late  tradition  of  the  priests, 
the  turbulent  tribes  of  northern  Nubia,  who  for  centuries 
after  Zoser 's  reign  continued  to  make  the  region  of  the  first 
cataract  unsafe,  were  so  controlled  by  him  that  he  could  grant 
to  Khnum,  the  god  of  the  cataract  at  least  nominal  posses- 
sion of  both  sides  of  the  river  from  Elephantine  at  the  lower 
end  of  the  cataract  up  to  Takompso,  some  seventy  five  or 
eighty  miles  above  it.  As  this  tradition  was  put  forward 
by  the  priests  of  Isis  in  Ptolemaic  times  as  legal  support  of 
certain  of  their  claims,  it  is  not  improbable  that  it  contains 
a  germ  of  fact.1 

The  success  of  Zoser 's  efforts  was  perhaps  in  part  due  to 
the  counsel  of  the  great  wise  man,  Imhotep,  who  was  one  of 
his  chief  advisers.  In  priestly  wisdom,  in  magic,  in  the 
formulation  of  wise  proverbs,  in  medicine  and  architecture, 
this  remarkable  figure  of  Zoser 's  reign  left  so  notable  a 
reputation  that  his  name  was  never  forgotten.    He  was  the 

1  Sethe,  Untersuchungen,  II,  22-26. 


THE  PYRAMID  BUILDERS 


113 


patron  spirit  of  the  later  scribes,  to  whom  they  regularly 
poured  out  a  libation  from  the  water  jar  of  their  writing- 
outfit  before  beginning  their  work.1  The  people  sang  of  his 
proverbs  centuries  later,  and  two  thousand  five  hundred  years 
after  his  death  he  had  become  a  god  of  medicine,  in  whom 
the  Greeks  who  called  him  Imouthes,  recognized  their  own 
Asklepios.2  A  temple  was  erected  to  him  near  the  Serapeum 
at  Memphis,  and  at  the  present  day  every  museum  possesses 
a  bronze  statuette  or  two  of  this  apotheosized  wise  man,  the 
proverb-maker,  physician  and  architect  of  Zoser.  The 
priests  who  conducted  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple  of  Edfu 
under  the  Ptolemies,  claimed  to  be  reproducing  the  structure 
formerly  erected  there  after  plans  of  Imhotep;  and  it  may 
therefore  well  be  that  Zoser  was  the  builder  of  a  temple  there. 
Manetho  records  the  tradition  that  stone  building  was  first 
introduced  by  Zoser,  whom  he  calls  Tosorthros,  and  although, 
as  we  have  seen,  stone  structures  of  earlier  date  are  now 
known,  yet  the  great  reputation  as  a  builder  ascribed  to 
Zoser 's  counsellor  Imhotep  is  no  accident,  and  it  is  evident 
that  Zoser 's  reign  marked  the  beginning  of  extensive  build- 
ing in  stone.  Until  his  reign  the  royal  tombs  were  built  of 
sun-dried  bricks,  only  containing  in  one  instance  a  granite 
floor  and  in  another  a  chamber  of  limestone.  This  brick 
tomb  was  greatly  improved  by  Zoser,  in  whose  time  there 
was  built  at  Bet  Khallaf,  near  Abydos,  a  massive  brick  mas- 
taba  (Fig.  62),  through  one  end  of  which  a  stairway  de- 
scended, and  passing  into  the  gravel  beneath  the  superstruc- 
ture, merged  into  a  descending  passage,  which  terminated 
in  a  series  of  mortuary  chambers.3  The  passage  was  closed 
in  five  places  by  heavy  portcullis  stones.  This  was  the 
first  of  the  two  royal  tombs  now  usually  erected  (see  p.  71). 
In  all  probability  Zoser  himself  never  used  this  tomb,  built 
so  near  those  of  his  ancestors ;  but  assisted  by  Imhotep  under- 
took the  construction  of  a  mausoleum  on  a  more  ambitious 

xSchaefer,  Zeitschrift,  1898,  147-8;  Gardiner,  ibid.,  40,  146. 

2  Sethe,  Untersuchungen,  II. 

3  Garstang,  Mahasna  and  Bet  KhallAf,  London,  1902. 
8 


114 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


plan  than  any  of  his  ancestors  had  ever  attempted.  In  the 
desert  behind  Memphis  he  laid  out  a  tomb  (Fig.  63),  very 
much  like  that  at  Bet  Khallaf,  but  the  mastaba  was  now 
built  of  stone ;  it  was  nearly  thirty  eight  feet  high,  some  two 
hundred  and  twenty  seven  feet  wide,  and  an  uncertain 
amount  longer  from  north  to  south.  As  his  reign  continued 
he  enlarged  it  upon  the  ground,  and  increased  its  height  also 
by  building  five  rectangular  additions  superimposed  upon 
its  top,  each  smaller  than  its  predecessor.  The  result  was  a 
terraced  structure,  one  hundred  and  ninety  five  feet  high, 
in  six  stages,  the  whole  roughly  resembling  a  pyramid.  It 
is  often  called  the  "terraced  pyramid,"  and  does  indeed 
constitute  the  transitional  form  between  the  flat-topped  rec- 
tangular superstructure  or  mastaba  first  built  by  Zoser  at 
Bet  Khallaf  and  the  pyramid  of  his  successors,  which  imme- 
diately followed.  It  is  the  first  large  structure  of  stone 
known  in  history. 

The  wealth  and  power  which  enabled  Zoser  to  erect  so 
imposing  and  costly  a  tomb  were  continued  by  the  other 
kings  of  the  dynasty,  whose  order  and  history  it  is  as  yet 
impossible  to  reconstruct.  We  now  know  that  we  should 
attribute  to  them  the  two  great  stone  pyramids  of  Dashur. 
These  vast  and  splendid  monuments,  the  earliest  pyramids, 
are  a  striking  testimony  to  the  prosperity  and  power  of  this 
Third  Dynasty.  Such  colossal  structures  make  a  powerful 
appeal  to  the  imagination,  but  we  cannot  picture  to  our- 
selves save  in  the  vaguest  terms  the  course  of  events  that 
produced  them.  They  leave  a  host  of  questions  unan- 
swered. At  the  close  of  the  dynasty,  the  nation  was  enjoy- 
ing wide  prosperity  under  the  vigourous  and  far-seeing 
Snefru.  He  built  vessels  nearly  one  hundred  and  seventy 
feet  long,  for  traffic  and  administration  upon  the  river;1 
he  continued  the  development  of  the  copper  mines  in  Sinai, 
where  he  defeated  the  native  tribes  and  left  a  record  of  his 
triumph.2  He  placed  Egyptian  interests  in  the  peninsula 
upon  such  a  permanent  basis  that  he  was  later  looked  upon 
as  the  founder  and  establisher  of  Egyptian  supremacy  there ; 

1li  146-7.  2 1,  168-9. 


Fig.  66.— CASING  BLOCKS  AT  THE  BASE  OF  THE  GREAT  PYRAMID.    JOINTS  OTHER- 
WISE UN  DISCERNIBLE  INDICATED  BY  CHARCOAL  LINES. 


(Photograph  by  L.  D.  Covington.) 


THE  PYRAMID  BUILDERS 


115 


one  of  the  mines  was  named  after  him;1  a  thousand  years 
later  it  is  his  achievements  in  this  region,  with  which  the 
later  kings  compared  their  own,  boasting  that  nothing  like 
it  had  been  done  there  "since  the  days  of  Snefru";2  and 
together  with  the  local  divinities,  Hathor  and  Soped,  his 
protection  was  invoked  as  a  patron  god  of  the  region  by  the 
venturesome  officials  who  risked  their  lives  for  the  Pharaoh 
there3  (Fig.  65).  He  regulated  the  eastern  frontier,  and  it 
is  not  unlikely  that  we  should  attribute  to  him  the  erection 
of  the  fortresses  at  the  Bitter  Lakes  in  the  Isthmus  of  Suez, 
which  existed  already  in  the  Fifth  Dynasty.  Eoads  and 
stations  in  the  eastern  Delta  still  bore  his  name  fifteen  hun- 
dred years  after  his  death.4  In  the  west  it  is  not  improb- 
able that  he  already  controlled  one  of  the  northern  oases. 5 
More  than  all  this,  he  opened  up  commerce  with  the  north 
and  sent  a  fleet  of  forty  vessels  to  the  Phoenician  coast  to 
procure  cedar  logs  from  the  slopes  of  Lebanon.6  Following 
the  example  of  Zoser,  he  was  equally  aggressive  in  the  south, 
where  he  conducted  a  campaign  against  northern  Xubia, 
bringing,  back  seven  thousand  prisoners,  and  two  hundred 
thousand  large  and  small  cattle.7 

Snefru,  powerful  and  prosperous,  as  "Lord  of  the  Two 
Lands,"  also  erected  two  tombs.  The  earlier  is  situated  at 
Medum,  between  Memphis  and  the  Fayum.  It  was  begun, 
like  that  of  Zoser,  as  a  mastaba  of  limestone,  with  the  tomb 
chamber  beneath  it.  Following  Zoser,  the  builder  enlarged 
it  seven  times  to  a  terraced  structure,  the  steps  in  which 
were  then  filled  out  in  one  smooth  slope  from  top  to  bottom 
at  a  different  angle,  thus  producing  the  first  pyramid  (Fig. 
64).  Snefru 's  other  pyramid,  far  larger  and  more  impos- 
ing, now  dominates  the  group  at  Dashur.  It  was  the  great- 
est building  thus  far  attempted  by  the  Pharaohs  and  is  an 
impressive  witness  to  the  rapid  progress  made  by  the 
Third  Dynasty  in  the  arts.    A  newly  found  inscription 

LD,  II,  137  g.  2r,  731.  3  i,  722. 

'  I,  165,  5;  312,  1.  21. 

5  I,  174,  1.  9.  6  i,  He.  ,  jt  U6. 


116 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


shows  that  Snefru 's  mortuary  endowments  here  were  still 
respected  three  hundred  years  later. 

With  Snefru  the  rising  tide  of  prosperity  and  power  has 
reached  the  high  level  which  made  the  subsequent  splendour 
of  the  Old  Kingdom  possible.  With  him  there  had  also 
grown  up  the  rich  and  powerful  noble  and  official  class, 
whose  life  we  have  already  sketched,— a  class  who  are  no 
longer  content  with  the  simple  brick  tombs  of  their  ancestors 
at  Abydos  and  vicinity.  Their  splendid  mastabas  of  hewn 
limestone  are  still  grouped  as  formerly  about  the  tomb  of 
the  king  whom  they  served.  It  is  the  surviving  remains  in 
these  imposing  cities  of  the  dead,  dominated  by  the  towering 
mass  of  the  pyramid  which  has  enabled  us  to  gain  a  picture 
of  the  life  of  the  great  kingdom,  the  threshold  of  which  we 
have  now  crossed.  Behind  us  lies  the  long  slow  develop- 
ment which  contained  the  promise  of  all  that  is  before  us; 
but  that  development  also  we  were  obliged  to  trace  in  the 
tomb  of  the  early  Egyptians,  as  we  have  followed  him  from 
the  sand-heap  that  covered  his  primitive  ancestor  to  the 
colossal  pyramid  of  the  Pharaoh. 

The  passing  of  the  great  family  of  which  Snefru  was  the 
most  prominent  representative,  did  not,  as  far  as  we  can  now 
see,  effect  any  serious  change  in  the  history  of  the  nation. 
Indeed  Khufu,  the  great  founder  of  the  so-called  Fourth 
Dynasty,  may  possibly  have  been  a  scion  of  the  Third.  He 
had  in  his  harem  at  least  a  lady  who  had  also  been  a  favourite 
of  Snefru.  But  it  is  evident  that  Khufu  was  not  a  Mem- 
phite.  He  came  from  a  town  of  middle  Egypt  near  modern 
Beni  Hasan,  which  was  afterward,  for  this  reason,  called 
' 1  Menat-Khuf u, ' '  i 1 Nurse  of  Khufu";  and  his  name  in  its 
full  form,  1 1  Khnum-khuf u, ' 9  which  means  ' '  Khnum  protects 
me, '  ^is  a  further  hint  of  his  origin,  containing  as  it  does  the 
name  of  Khnum,  the  ram-headed  god  of  Menat-Khufu. 
Likewise,  after  his  death,  one  of  his  mortuary  priests  was 
also  priest  of  Khnum  of  Menat-Khufu.1  We  have  no  means 
of  knowing  how  the  noble  of  a  provincial  town  succeeded  in 

1Mariette,  Les  Mastabas  B  l  =  Roug£,  Inscriptions  Hierogl.,  78. 


THE  PYRAMID  BUILDERS 


117 


supplanting  the  powerful  Snefru  and  becoming  the  founder 
of  a  new  line.  We  only  see  him  looming  grandly  from  the 
obscure  array  of  Pharaohs  of  his  time,  his  greatness  pro- 
claimed by  the  noble  tomb  which  he  erected  at  Gizeh,  oppo- 
site modern  Cairo.  It  has  now  become  the  chief  project  of 
the  state  to  furnish  a  vast,  impenetrable  and  indestructible 
resting  place  for  the  body  of  the  king,  who  concentrated  upon 
this  enterprise  the  greatest  resources  of  wealth,  skill  and 
labour  at  his  command.  How  strong  and  effective  must  have 
been  the  organization  of  Khufu's  government  we  appreciate 
in  some  measure  when  we  learn  that  his  pyramid  contains 
some  two  million  three  hundred  thousand  blocks,  each  weigh- 
ing on  the  average  two  and  a  half  tons.1  The  mere  organiza- 
tion of  labour  involved  in  the  quarrying,  transportation  and 
proper  assembly  of  this  vast  mass  of  material  is  a  task  which 
in  itself  must  have  severely  taxed  the  public  offices.  Herod- 
otus relates  a  tradition  current  in  his  time  that  the  pyramid 
had  demanded  the  labour  of  a  hundred  thousand  men  during 
twenty  years,  and  Petrie  has  shown  that  these  numbers  are 
quite  credible.  The  maintenance  of  this  city  of  a  hundred 
thousand  labourers,  who  were  non-producing  and  a  constant 
burden  on  the  state,  the  adjustment  of  the  labour  in  the  quar- 
ries so  as  to  ensure  an  uninterrupted  accession  of  material 
around  the  base  of  the  pyramid,  will  have  entailed  the  devel- 
opment of  a  small  state  in  itself.  The  blocks  were  taken 
out  of  the  quarries  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  south  of 
Cairo,  and  at  high  water,  when  the  flats  were  flooded,  they 
were  floated  across  the  valley  to  the  base  of  the  pyramid  hill. 
Here  an  enormous  stone  ramp  or  causeway  had  been  erected, 
a  labour  of  ten  years  if  we  may  believe  Herodotus,  and  up  this 
incline  the  stones  were  dragged  to  the  plateau  on  which  the 
pyramid  stands.  Not  merely  was  this  work  quantitatively 
so  formidable  but  in  quality  also  it  is  the  most  remarkable 
material  enterprise  known  to  us  in  this  early  world,  for  the 
most  ponderous  masonry  in  the  pyramid  amazes  the  modern 
beholder  by  its  fineness.    It  was  but  five  centuries  since  the 

1  Petrie,  Gizeh. 


118 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


crude  granite  floor  of  the  tomb  of  Usephais  at  Abydos  was 
laid,  and  perhaps  not  more  than  a  century  since  the  earliest 
stone  structure  now  known,  the  limestone  chamber  in  the 
tomb  of  Khasekhemui  at  the  same  place  was  erected.  The 
pyramid  is  or  was  about  four  hundred  and  eighty  one  feet 
high,  and  its  square  base  measured  some  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  five  feet  on  a  side,  but  the  average  error  is  "less  than  a 
ten  thousandth  of  the  side  in  equality,  in  squareness  and  in 
level";1  although  a  rise  of  ground  on  the  site  of  the  monu- 
ment prevented  direct  measurements  from  corner  to  corner. 
Some  of  the  masonry  finish  is  so  fine  that  blocks  weighing 
tons  are  set  together  with  seams  of  considerable  length,  show- 
ing a  joint  of  one  ten  thousandth  of  an  inch,  and  involving 
edges  and  surfaces  "equal  to  optician's  work  of  the  present 
day,  but  on  a  scale  of  acres  instead  of  feet  or  yards  of  mate- 
rial.''2 The  entire  monument  is  of  limestone,  except  the 
main  sepulchral  chamber  and  the  construction  chambers 
above  it,  where  the  workmanship  distinctly  deteriorates. 
The  latter  part,  that  is  the  upper  portion,  was  evidently  built 
with  greater  haste  than  the  lower  sections.  The  passages 
were  skilfully  closed  at  successive  places  by  plug-blocks  and 
portcullisses  of  granite;  while  the  exterior,  clothed  with  an 
exquisitely  fitted  casing  of  limestone  (Fig.  66),  which  has 
since  been  quarried  away,  nowhere  betrayed  the  place  of 
entrance,  located  in  the  eighteenth  course  of  masonry  above 
the  base  near  the  centre  of  the  north  face.  It  must  have 
been  a  courageous  monarch  who  from  the  beginning  planned 
this  the  greatest  mass  of  masonry  ever  put  together  by 
human  hands,  and  there  are  evidences  in  the  pyramid  of  at 
least  two  changes  of  plan.  Like  all  the  pyramidoid  monu- 
ments which  precede  it,  it  was  therefore  probably  projected 
on  a  smaller  scale,  but  before  the  work  had  proceeded  too 
far  to  prevent,  by  complication  of  the  interior  passages,  the 
plan  was  enlarged  to  the  present  enormous  base,  covering 
an  area  of  thirteen  acres.  Three  small  pyramids,  built  for 
members  of  Khufu's  family,  stand  in  a  line  close  by  on  the 

1  Petrie,  History  of  Egypt,  T,  p.  40.  2  Ibid. 


Fig.  69.— A  GRANITE  HALL  IN  THE  GREAT  MONUMENTAL  GATE  OF  KHAFRE. 
The  entrance  of  the  causeway  (see  Fig.  37)  leading  up  to  Khafre's  (the  second)  Pyramid  at  Gizeh  (see  p.  120). 


THE  PYRAMID  BUILDERS 


119 


east.  The  pyramid  was  surrounded  by  a  wide  pavement  of 
limestone,  and  on  the  east  front  was  the  temple  for  the  mor- 
tuary service  of  Khufu,  of  which  all  but  portions  of  a  splen- 
did basalt  pavement  has  disappeared.  The  remains  of  the 
causeway  leading  up  from  the  plain  to  the  temple  still  rise 
in  sombre  ruin,  disclosing  only  the  rough  core  masonry, 
across  which  the  modern  village  of  Kafr  is  now  built. 
Further  south  is  a  section  of  the  wall  which  surrounded  the 
town  on  the  plain  below,  probably  the  place  of  Khuf u 's  resi- 
dence, and  perhaps  the  residence  of  the  dynasty.  In  leaving 
the  tomb  of  Khufu  our  admiration  for  the  monument, 
whether  stirred  by  its  vast  dimensions  or  by  the  fineness  of 
its  masonry  should  not  obscure  its  real  and  final  significance ; 
for  the  great  pyramid  is  the  earliest  and  most  impressive 
witness  surviving  from  the  ancient  world  to  the  final  emer- 
gence of  organized  society  from  prehistoric  chaos  and  local 
conflict,  thus  coming  for  the  first  time  completely  under 
the  power  of  a  far-reaching  and  comprehensive  centraliza- 
tion effected  by  one  controlling  mind. 
^Khufu's  name  has  been  found  from  Desuk  in  the  north- 
western and  Bubastis  in  the  eastern  Delta,  to  Hieraconpolis 
in  the  south,  but  we  know  almost  nothing  of  his  other 
achievements.  He  continued  operations  in  the  peninsula  of 
Sinai;1  perhaps  opened  for  the  first  time,  and  in  any  case 
kept  workmen  in  the  alabaster  quarry  of  Hatnub ;  and  Ptole- 
maic tradition  also  made  him  the  builder  of  a  Hathor  temple 
at  Dendera.2  It  will  be  evident  that  all  the  resources  of  the 
nation  were  completely  at  his  disposal  and  under  his  control ; 
his  eldest  son,  as  was  customary  in  the  Fourth  Dynasty, 
was  vizier  and  chief  judge;  while  the  two  "treasurers  of 
the  God,"  who  were  in  charge  of  the  work  in  the  quarries, 
were  undoubtedly  also  sons  of  the  king,  as  we  have  seen. 
The  most  powerful  offices  were  kept  within  the  circle  of  the 
royal  house,  and  thus  a  great  state  was  swayed  at  the  mon- 
arch 's  slightest  wish,  and  for  many  years  held  to  its  chief 
task,  the  creation  of  his  tomb.    An  obscure  king,  Dedefre  or 

1 1,  176.  2  Dumichen  Dendera,  p.  15. 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Radedef,  whose  connection  with  the  family  is  entirely  uncer- 
tain, seems  to  have  succeeded  Khufu.  His  modest  pyramid 
has  been  found  at  Aburoash,  on  the  north  of  Gizeh,  but 
Dedefre  himself  remains  with  us  only  a  name,  and  it  is  pos- 
sible that  he  belongs  near  the  close  of  the  dynasty. 

It  is  uncertain  whether  his  successor,  Khafre,  was  his  son 
or  not.  But  the  new  king's  name,  which  means  ' ' His  Shin- 
ing is  Re,"  like  that  of  Dedefre,  would  indicate  the  political 
influence  of  the  priests  of  Re  at  Heliopolis.  He  built  a 
pyramid  (Figs.  68,  70)  beside  that  of  Khufu,  but  it  is  some- 
what smaller  and  distinctly  inferior  in  workmanship.  It  was 
given  a  sumptuous  appearance  by  making  the  lowermost 
section  of  casing  of  granite  from  the  first  cataract.  Scanty 
remains  of  the  pyramid-temple  on  the  east  side  are  still  in 
place,  from  which  the  usual  causeway  leads  down  to  the 
margin  of  the  plateau  and  terminates  in  a  splendid  granite 
building  (Fig.  69),  which  served  as  the  gateway  to  the  cause- 
way and  the  pyramid  enclosure  above.  Its  interior  surfaces 
are  all  of  polished  red  granite  and  translucent  alabaster.  In 
a  well  in  one  hall  of  the  building  seven  statues  of  Khafre 
were  found  by  Mariette.  We  have  had  occasion  to  examine 
the  best  of  these  in  the  preceding  chapter.1  This  splendid 
entrance  stands  beside  the  Great  Sphinx,  and  is  still  usually 
termed  the  "temple  of  the  sphinx,' '  with  which  it  had,  how- 
ever, nothing  to  do.  Whether  the  sphinx  itself  is  the  work 
of  Khafre  is  not  yet  determined.  In  Egypt  the  sphinx  is 
an  oft  recurring  portrait  of  the  king,  the  lion's  body  sym- 
bolizing the  Pharaoh's  power.  The  Great  Sphinx  is  there- 
fore the  portrait  of  a  Pharaoh,  and  an  obscure  reference  to 
Khafre  in  an  inscription  between  its  forepaws  dated  fourteen 
hundred  years  later  in  the  reign  of  Thutmose  IV,2  perhaps 
shows  that  in  those  times  he  was  considered  to  have  had 
something  to  do  with  it.  Beyond  these  buildings  we  know 
nothing  of  Khafre 's  deeds,  but  these  show  clearly  that  the 
great  state  which  Khufu  had  done  so  much  to  create  was 
still  firmly  controlled  by  the  Pharaoh. 

*Fig.  48  and  p.  103.  8 II,  815. 


THE  PYRAMID  BUILDERS 


121 


Under  Khafre's  successor,  Menkure,  however,  if  the  size 
of  the  royal  pyramid  is  an  adequate  basis  for  judgment,  the 
power  of  the  royal  house  was  no  longer  so  absolute.  Moreover, 
the  vast  pyramids  which  his  two  predecessors  had  erected 
may  have  so  depleted  the  resources  of  the  state  that  Menkure 
was  not  able  to  extort  more  from  an  exhausted  nation.  The 
third  pyramid  of  Gizeh  which  we  owe  to  him,  is  less  than 
half  as  high  as  those  of  Khufu  and  Khaf re ;  its  ruined  temple 
recently  excavated  by  Eeisner,  unfinished  at  his  death,  was 
faced  with  sun-dried  brick,  instead  of  sumptuous  granite, 
by  his  successor.  Of  his  immediate  successors,  we  possess 
contemporary  monuments  only  from  the  reign  of  Shepse- 
skaf.  Although  we  have  a  record  that  he  selected  the  site 
for  his  pyramid  in  his  first  year,1  he  was  unable  to  erect  a 
monument  sufficiently  large  and  durable  to  survive,  and  we 
do  not  even  know  where  it  was  located ;  while  of  the  achieve- 
ments of  this  whole  group  of  kings  at  the  close  of  the 
Fourth  Dynasty,  including  several  interlopers,  who  may 
now  have  assumed  the  throne  for  a  brief  time,  we  know 
nothing  whatever. 

The  century  and  a  half  during  which  the  Fourth  Dynasty 
maintained  its  power  was  a  period  of  unprecedented  splen- 
dour in  the  history  of  the  Nile  valley  people,  and  as  we  have 
seen,  the  monuments  of  the  time  were  on  a  scale  of  grandeur 
which  was  never  later  eclipsed.  It  reached  its  climacteric 
point  in  Khufu,  and  after  probably  a  slight  decline  in  the 
reign  of  Khafre,  Menkure  was  no  longer  able  to  command  the 
closely  centralized  power  which  the  family  had  so  success- 
fully maintained  up  to  that  time.  It  passed  away,  leaving 
the  group  of  nine  pyramids  at  Gizeh  as  an  imperishable 
witness  of  its  greatness  and  power.  They  were  counted  in 
classic  times  among  the  seven  wonders  of  the  world,  and 
they  are  to-day  the  only  surviving  wonder  of  the  seven. 
The  cause  of  the  fall  of  the  Fourth  Dynasty,  while  not  clear 
in  the  details,  is  in  the  main  outlines  tolerably  certain.  The 
priests  of  Re  at  Heliopolis,  whoso  influence  is  also  evident 

151. 


122  A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Map  2.    The  Fourth  Dynasty  Cemetery  at  Gizeh. 


in  the  names  of  the  kings  following  Khufu,  had  succeeded 
in  organizing  their  political  influence,  becoming  a  clique  of 
sufficient  power  to  overthrow  the  old  line.  The  state  theol- 
ogy had  always  represented  the  king  as  the  successor  of 
the  sun-god  and  he  had  borne  the  title  "Horus,"  a  sun-god, 
from  the  beginning;  but  the  priests  of  Heliopolis  now  de- 
manded that  he  be  the  bodily  son  of  Ee,  who  henceforth 
would  appear  on  earth  to  become  the  father  of  the  Pharaoh. 
A  folk-tale  of  which  we  have  a  copy1  some  nine  hundred 
years  later  than  the  fall  of  the  Fourth  Dynasty,  relates  how 

1  Papyrus  Westcar. 


THE  PYRAMID  BUILDERS 


123 


Khufu  was  enjoying  an  idle  hour  with  his  sons,  while  they 
narrated  wonders  wrought  by  the  great  wise  men  of  old. 
When  thereupon  prince  Harzozef  told  the  king  that  there 
still  lived  a  magician  able  to  do  marvels  of  the  same  kind, 
the  Pharaoh  sent  the  prince  to  fetch  the  wise  man.  The 
latter,  after  he  had  offered  some  examples  of  his  remarkable 
powers,  reluctantly  told  the  king  in  response  to  questions, 
that  the  three  children  soon  to  be  born  by  the  wife  of  a  cer- 
tain priest  of  Ee  were  begotten  of  Ee  himself,  and  that  they 
should  all  become  kings  of  E  Jypt.  Seeing  the  king 's  sadness 
at  this  information  the  wise  man  assured  him  that  there  was 
no  reason  for  his  melancholy,  saying,  ' '  Thy  son,  his  son,  and 
then  one  of  them, ' '  meaning  ' 1  Thy  son  shall  reign ;  then  thy 
grandson,  and  after  that  one  of  these  three  children. ' '  The 
conclusion  of  the  tale  is  lost,  but  it  undoubtedly  went  on 
to  tell  how  the  three  children  finally  became  Pharaohs,  for 
it  narrates  with  many  picturesque  details  and  remarkable 
prodigies  how  the  children  were  born  wearing  all  the  insignia 
of  royalty.  The  names  given  these  children  by  the  disguised 
divinities  who  assisted  at  their  birth  were :  Userkaf ,  Sahure 
and  Kakai,  the  names  of  the  first  three  kings  of  the  Fifth 
Dynasty.  Although  the  popular  tradition  knew  of  only  two 
kings  of  the  Fourth  Dynasty  after  Khufu,  having  never 
heard  of  Dedefre,  Shepseskaf  and  others  whose  reigns  had 
left  no  great  pyramids,  it  nevertheless  preserved  the  essen- 
tial contention  of  the  priests  of  Ee  and  in  kernel  at  least  the 
real  origin  of  the  Fifth  Dynasty.  In  this  folk-tale  we  have 
the  popular  form  of  what  is  now  the  state  fiction:  every 
Pharaoh  is  the  bodily  son  of  the  sun-god,  a  belief  which  was 
thereafter  maintained  throughout  the  history  of  Egypt1 

The  kings  of  the  Fifth  Dynasty,  who  continued  to  reside  in 
the  vicinity  of  Memphis,  began  to  rule  about  2750  B.  C. 
They  show  plain  traces  of  the  origin  ascribed  to  them  by  the 
popular  tradition;  the  official  name  which  they  assume  at 
the  coronation  must  invariably  contain  the  name  of  Ee,  a 
custom  which  the  Heliopolitan  priests  had  not  been  able 

UI,  187-212. 


124 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


strictly  to  enforce  in  the  Fourth  Dynasty.  Before  this  name 
must  now  be  placed  a  new  title,  "Son  of  Re."  Besides  the 
old  "  Horns' '  title  and  a  new  title  representing  Horus  tram- 
pling upon  the  symbol  of  Set,  this  new  designation  "Son  of 
Re"  was  the  fifth  title  peculiar  to  the  Pharaohs,  later  produc- 
ing the  complete  Pharaonic  titulary  as  it  remained  through- 
out their  history.  Their  adherence  to  the  cult  of  Re  as  the 
state  religion  par  excellence  found  immediate  and  practical 


Fig.  71.    Restoration  of  the  Sun-Temple  of  Nusebbe  at  Abusir. 
(After  Borchardt.) 


expression  in  the  most  splendid  form.  By  the  royal  residence 
near  later  Memphis  each  king  erected  a  magnificent  temple 
to  the  sun,  each  bearing  a  name  like  1 i  Favourite  place  of  Re, 9 ' 
or  "Satisfaction  of  Re."  These  sanctuaries  are  all  of  the 
same  essential  plan :  a  large  fore-court  with  cultus  chambers 
on  each  side,  and  a  huge  altar ;  while  in  the  rear,  rising  from 
a  mastaba-like  base  was  a  tall  obelisk  (Fig.  71).  This  was 
the  symbol  of  the  god,  standing  exposed  to  the  sky,  and  there 


THE  PYRAMID  BUILDERS 


125 


was  therefore  no  holy  of  holies.  There  are  reasons  for  sup- 
posing that  the  obelisk  and  connected  portions  of  the  build- 
ing were  but  an  enlargement  of  the  holy  of  holies  in  the 
temple  at  Heliopolis.  The  interior  of  the  walls  was  covered 
with  sculptured  representations  of  the  production  of  life, 
with  scenes  from  the  river,  swamps  and  marshes,  the  fields 
and  the  desert,  and  ceremonies  from  the  state  cult  (Fig.  72) ; 
while  the  outside  of  the  temple  bore  reliefs  depicting  the 
warlike  achievements  of  the  Pharaoh.     On  either  side  of 


Fig.  72.    Relief  Scenes  from  the  Sun-Temple  of  Nusebbe  at  Abusib. 
In  the  upper  right  hand  corner,  the  anointing  of  the  Pharaoh's  foot. 

the  sanctuary  on  a  brick  foundation  were  set  up  two  ships 
representing  the  two  celestial  barques  of  the  sun-god,  as  he 
sailed  the  heavens  morning  and  evening.  The  sanctuary 
was  richly  endowed1  and  its  service  was  maintained  by  a 
corps  of  priests  of  five  different  ranks,  besides  an  "over- 
seer" who  had  charge  of  the  temple  property.  As  the  line 
of  kings  grew,  and  with  it  the  number  of  temples  increased, 

%  159,  8. 


126 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


the  priesthood  of  the  old  temple  assumed  functions  likewise 
in  the  new  one.  We  can  follow  these  temples  one  for  each 
king  at  least  into  the  reign  of  Isesi,  the  eighth  monarch  of 
the  line.1  Enjoying  wealth  and  distinction  such  as  had  been 
possessed  by  no  official  god  of  earlier  times,  Ee  gained  a 
position  of  influence  which  he  never  again  lost.  Through 
him  the  forms  of  the  Egyptian  state  began  to  pass  over  into 
the  world  of  the  gods,  and  the  myths  from  now  on  were  domi- 
nated and  strongly  coloured  by  him,  if  indeed  some  of  them 
did  not  owe  their  origin  to  the  exalted  place  which  Re  now 
occupied.  In  the  sun-myth  he  became  king  of  Upper  and 
Lower  Egypt  and,  like  a  Pharaoh,  he  had  ruled  Egypt  with 
Thoth  as  his  vizier. 

The  change  in  the  royal  line  is  also  evident  in  the  organi- 
zation of  the  government.  The  eldest  son  of  the  king  is 
no  longer  the  most  powerful  officer  in  the  state,  but  the  posi- 
tion which  he  held  in  the  Fourth  Dynasty  as  vizier  and  chief 
judge  is  now  the  prerogative  of  another  family,  with  whom 
it  remains  hereditary.  Each  incumbent,  through  five  gen- 
erations, bore  the  name  Ptahhotep.  It  would  almost  seem 
as  if  the  priests  of  Ptah  and  the  priests  of  Heliopolis  had 
made  common  cause,  dividing  the  power  between  them,  so 
that  the  high  priest  of  Re  became  Pharaoh,  and  the  followers 
of  Ptah  received  the  viziership.  In  any  case  the  Pharaoh 
was  now  obliged  to  reckon  with  a  family  of  his  lords  as 
successive  viziers.  This  hereditary  succession,  so  striking 
in  the  highest  office  of  the  central  government,  was  now  com- 
mon in  the  nomes,  and  the  local  governors  were  each  gaining 
stronger  and  stronger  foothold  in  his  nome  as  the  generations 
passed,  and  son  succeeded  father  in  the  same  nome.  That 
the  new  dynasty  was  obliged  to  consider  the  nobles  who  had 
assisted  in  its  rise  to  power,  is  also  to  be  discerned  in  the 
appointment  by  Userkaf,  the  first  of  the  line,  of  his  palac© 
steward  to  the  governorship  of  a  district  in  middle  Egypt 
called  the  ' ' New  Towns,"2  to  which  office  he  added  the 
income  of  two  priesthoods  in  the  vicinity,  which  had  been 

*  Borchardt,  Festschr.  f.  Ebers,  p.  13.  *I,  213  ff. 


THE  PYRAMID  BUILDERS 


127 


established  by  Menkure7  and  probably  previously  held  by  a 
favourite  of  the  Fourth  Dynasty,  But  the  endowment  estab- 
lished by  the  Fourth  Dynasty  was  respected. 

While  Userkaf,  as  the  founder  of  the  new  dynasty,  may 
have  had  enough  to  do  to  make  secure  the  succession  of  his 
line,  he  has  left  his  name1  on  the  rocks  at  the  first  cataract, 
the  earliest  of  the  long  series  of  rock-inscriptions  there,  which 
from  now  on  will  furnish  us  many  hints  of  the  career  of  the 
Pharaohs  in  the  south.  Sahure,  who  followed  Userkaf,  con- 
tinued the  development  of  Egypt  as  the  earliest  known  naval 
power  in  history.  He  dispatched  a  fleet  against  the  Phoeni- 
cian coast,  and  a  relief  just  discovered  in  his  pyramid 
temple  at  Abusir,  shows  four  of  the  ships  with  Phoenician  * 
captives  among  the  Egyptian  sailors.  This  is  the  earliest 
surviving  representation  of  sea-going  ships  (c.  2750  B.  C), 
and  the  oldest  known  picture  of  Semitic  Syrians.  Another 
fleet  was  sent  by  Sahure  to  still  remoter  waters,  on  a  voy- 
age to  Punt,  as  the  Egyptian  called  the  Somali  coast  at 
the  south  end  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  along  the  south  side 
of  the  gulf  of  Aden.  From  this  region,  which  like  the 
whole  east,  he  termed  the  "  God 's-Land, ' '  he  obtained  the 
fragrant  gums  and  resins  so  much  desired  for  the  incense 
and  ointments  indispensable  in  the  life  of  the  oriental. 
Voyages  to  this  country  may  have  been  made  as  early  as  the 
First  Dynasty,  for  at  that  time  the  Pharaohs  already  used 
myrrh  in  considerable  quantities,  although  this  may  have 
been  obtained  in  trade  with  the  intermediate  tribes  who 
brought  it  overland,  down  the  Blue  Nile,  the  Atbara  and  the 
Upper  Nile.  In  the  Fourth  Dynasty  a  son  of  Khufu  had 
possessed  a  Puntite  slave,3  but  Sahure  was  the  first  Pharaoh 
whose  records4  show  direct  communication  with  the  coun- 
try of  Punt  for  this  purpose.  His  expedition  brought  back 
80,000  measures  of  myrrh,  probably  6,000  weight  of  elec- 
trum  (gold-silver  alloy),  besides  2,600  staves  of  some  costly 
wood,  presumably  ebony.    We  find  his  officials5  at  the  first 

1  Mariette,  Mon.  div.,  54  e.  2  1,  161,  7;  236. 

8LD,  II,  23,  Erman,  Aegypten,  670.  *  I,  161,  8. 

*De  Morgan,  Catalogue  de  Monuments,  I,  88. 


128 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


cataract  also,  one  of  whom  left  the  earliest  of  the  long  series 
of  inscriptions  on  the  rocks,  doubtless  an  indication  of  expe- 
ditions into  Nubia. 

We  can  only  discern  enough  of  the  next  four  reigns  to  gain 
faint  impressions  of  a  powerful  and  cultured  state,  conserv- 
ing all  its  internal  wealth  and  reaching  out  to  distant  regions 
around  it  for  the  materials  which  its  own  natural  resources 
do  not  furnish.  Toward  the  end  of  the  dynasty,  in  the 
second  half  of  the  twenty  seventh  century  B.  C,  Isesi 
opened  the  quarries  of  the  Wadi  Hammamat  in  the  eastern 
desert  three  days'  journey  from  the  Nile.  These  quarries 
had  perhaps  already  furnished  the  materials  for  the  numer- 
ous breccia  vases  of  the  earlier  kings,  but  Isesi  was  the  first 
of  the  Pharaohs  to  leave  his  name1  there.  As  the  Nile  at 
this  point  approaches  most  closely  to  the  Red  Sea  in  all  its 
upper  course,  caravans  leaving  Coptos  and  passing  by  the 
Hammamat  quarries,  could  reach  the  sea  in  five  days.  It 
was  therefore  the  most  convenient  route  to  Punt;  it  was 
probably  along  this  route  that  the  expedition  of  Sahure, 
already  mentioned,  had  passed,  while  Isesi,  who  now  also 
sent  his  i '  treasurer  of  the  God, ' 9  Burded,  in  command  of  an 
expedition2  thither,  must  also  have  used  it.  His  successor, 
Unis,  must  have  been  active  in  the  south,  for  we  find  his 
name  at  the  frontier  of  the  first  cataract,  followed  by  the 
epithet '  i  lord  of  countries. '  '3 

There  is  now  further  evidence  that  the  overshadowing 
greatness  of  the  Pharaohs  as  felt  and  acknowledged  by  the 
official  class  was  in  some  measure  paling.  To  none  of  the 
earlier  victorious  records  left  by  the  Pharaohs  in  Sinai  had 
the  officials  who  led  these  expeditions  presumed  to  affix  their 
names,  or  in  any  way  to  indicate  their  connection  with  the 
enterprise.  In  relief  after  relief  upon  the  rocks  we  see  the 
Pharaoh  smiting  his  enemies,  as  if  he  had  suddenly  appeared 
there,  like  the  god  they  believed  he  was;  and  there  is  not 
the  slightest  hint  that  each  expedition  was  in  reality  led 

1 LD,  II,  115  1.  21,  351,  353. 

8  Petrie,  Season,  XII,  No.  312. 


Fig.  73.— RUINED  PYRAMID  OF  UNIS  (FIFTH  DYNASTY) 
AT  SAKKARA. 
Earliest  pyramid  containing  religious  inscriptions. 


Fig.  74.— ISLAND  OF  ELEPHANTINE,  THE  HOME  OF  THE  LORDS  OF  THE  SOUTHERN 

FRONTIER. 
Their  tombs  are  in  the  cliffs  on  the  farther  shore. 


THE  PYRAMID  BUILDERS 


129 


by  some  noble  functionary  of  the  government.  Under  Isesi, 
however,  the  self  consciousness  of  the  official  can  no  longer 
be  completely  repressed,  and  for  the  first  time  we  find  under 
the  usual  triumphant  relief  a  single  line1  stating  that  the 
expedition  was  carried  out  under  the  command  of  a  certain 
officer.  It  is  but  a  hint  of  the  rising  power  of  the  officials, 
who  from  now  on  never  fail  to  make  themselves  increasingly 
prominent  in  all  records  of  the  royal  achievements.  It  is  a 
power  with  which  the  Pharaoh  will  find  more  and  more  diffi- 
culty in  dealing  as  time  passes.  There  is  perhaps  another 
evidence  that  the  Fifth  Dynasty  kings  no  longer  possessed 
the  unlimited  power  enjoyed  by  their  predecessors  of  the 
Fourth  Dynasty.  Their  limestone  pyramids  ranged  along 
the  desert  margin  south  of  Gizeh,  at  Abusir  and  Sakkara, 
are  small,— less  than  half  as  high  as  the  great  pyramid,  and 
the  core  is  of  such  poor  construction,  being  largely  loose 
blocks,  or  even  rubble  and  sand,  that  they  are  now  in  com- 
plete ruin,  each  pyramid  being  a  low  mound  with  little  sem- 
blance of  the  pyramid  form.  The  centralized  power  of  the 
earlier  Pharaohs  was  thus  visibly  weakening,  and  it  was 
indeed  in  every  way  desirable  that  there  should  be  a  reaction 
against  the  totally  abnormal  absorption  by  the  Pharaoh's 
tomb  of  such  an  enormous  proportion  of  the  national  wealth. 
The  transitional  period  of  the  Fifth  Dynasty,  lasting  prob- 
ably a  century  and  a  quarter,  during  which  nine  kings 
reigned  was  therefore  one  of  significant  political  develop- 
ment, and  in  material  civilization  one  of  distinct  progress. 
Art  and  industry  flourished  as  before,  and  great  works  of 
Egyptian  sculpture  were  produced;  while  in  literature  king 
Isesi 's  vizier  and  chief  judge  composed  his  proverbial  wis- 
dom, which  we  have  already  discussed.  The  state  religion 
received  a  form  worthy  of  so  great  a  nation,  the  temples 
throughout  the  land  enjoyed  constant  attention,  and  the 
larger  sanctuaries  were  given  endowments2  commensurate 
with  the  more  elaborate  daily  offerings  on  the  king's  behalf. 
It  is  this  period  which  has  preserved  our  first  religious  liter- 

1I,  264,  266.  «I,  154-167. 

9 


130 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


ature  of  any  extent,  as  well  as  our  earliest  lengthy  example 
of  the  Egyptian  language.  In  the  pyramid  of  Unis  (Fig. 
73),  the  last  king  of  the  dynasty,  is  recorded  the  collection 
of  mortuary  ritualistic  utterances,  the  so-called  Pyramid 
Texts  which  we  have  before  discussed.  As  most  of  them 
belong  to  a  still  earlier  age  and  some  of  them  originated  in 
predynastic  times,  they  represent  a  much  earlier  form  of  lan- 
guage and  belief  than  those  of  the  generation  to  which  the 
pyramid  of  Unis  belongs. 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE  SIXTH  DYNASTY:    THE  DECLINE  OF  THE  OLD 

KINGDOM 

In  the  fullest  of  the  royal  lists,  the  Turin  Papyrus,  there 
is  no  indication  that  the  line  of  Menes  was  interrupted  until 
the  close  of  the  reign  of  Unis.  That  a  new  dynasty  arose 
at  this  point  there  can  be  no  doubt.  As  the  reader  has 
already  perceived,  the  movement  which  brought  in  this  new 
dynasty  was  due  to  a  struggle  of  the  local  governors  for  a 
larger  degree  of  power  and  liberty.  The  establishment  of 
the  Fifth  Dynasty  by  the  influence  of  the  Heliopolitan  party 
had  given  them  the  opportunity  they  desired.  They  gained 
hereditary  hold  upon  their  offices,  and  the  kings  of  that 
family  had  never  been  able  to  regain  the  complete  control 
over  them  maintained  by  the  Fourth  Dynasty.  Gradually 
the  local  governors  had  then  shaken  off  the  restraint  of  the 
Pharaoh;  and  when  about  2625  B.  C,  after  the  reign  of 
Unis,  they  succeeded  in  overthrowing  the  Fifth  Dynasty, 
they  became  landed  barons,  each  firmly  entrenched  in  his 
nome,  or  city,  and  maintaining  an  hereditary  claim  upon 
it.  The  old  title  of  " local  governor"  disappeared  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course,  and  the  men  who  had  once  borne  it  now  called 
themselves  * 1  great  chief"  or  ' 1 great  lord"  of  this  or  that 
nome.  They  continued  the  local  government  as  before,  but 
as  princes  with  a  large  degree  of  independence,  not  as 
officials  of  the  central  government.  We  have  here  the  first 
example  traceable  in  history  of  the  dissolution  of  a  central- 
ized state  "by  a  process  of  aggrandizement  on  the  part  of 
local  officials  of  the  crown,  like  that  which  resolved  the  Car- 
lovingian  empire  into  duchies,  landgraviates  or  petty  prin- 
cipalities.   The  new  lords  were  not  able  to  render  their 

131 


132 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


tenure  unconditionally  hereditary,  but  here  the  Pharaoh  still 
maintained  a  powerful  hold  upon  them ;  for  at  the  death  of  a 
noble  his  position,  his  fief  and  his  title  must  be  conferred  upon 
the  inheriting  son  by  the  gracious  favour  of  the  monarch. 
These  nomarchs  or  "great  lords"  are  loyal  adherents  of  the 
Pharaoh,  executing  his  commissions  in  distant  regions,  and 
displaying  the  greatest  zeal  in  his  cause;  but  they  are  no 
longer  his  officials  merely;  nor  are  they  so  attached  to  the 
court  and  person  of  the  monarch  as  to  build  their  tombs 
around  his  pyramid.  They  now  have  sufficient  indepen- 
dence and  local  attachment  to  locate  their  tombs  near  their 
homes.  We  find  them  excavated  in  the  cliffs  at  Elephan- 
tine, Kasr-Sayyad,  Shekh-Sa'id  and  Zawiyet  el-Metin,  or 
built  of  masonry  at  Abydos.  They  devote  much  attention 
to  the  development  and  prosperity  of  their  great  domains, 
and  one  of  them  even  tells  how  he  brought  in  emigrants  from 
neighbouring  nomes  to  settle  in  the  feebler  towns  and  infuse 
new  blood  into  the  less  productive  districts  of  his  own  nome.1 

The  chief  administrative  bond  which  united  the  nomes  to 
the  central  government  of  the  Pharaoh  will  have  been  the 
treasury  as  before;  but  the  Pharaoh  found  it  necessary  to 
exert  general  control  over  the  great  group  of  fiefs,  which 
now  comprised  his  kingdom,  and  already  toward  the  end  of 
the  Fifth  Dynasty  he  had  therefore  appointed  over  the  whole 
of  the  valley  above  the  Delta  a  "governor  of  the  South,' ' 
through  whom  he  was  able  constantly  to  exert  governmental 
pressure  upon  the  southern  nobles ;  there  seems  to  have  been 
no  corresponding  "governor  of  the  North,"  and  we  may 
infer  that  the  lords  of  the  North  were  less  aggressive.  More- 
over the  kings  still  feel  themselves  to  be  kings  of  the  South 
governing  the  North. 

The  seat  of  government,  the  chief  royal  residence,  as  before 
in  the  vicinity  of  Memphis,  was  still  called  the  "White 
Wall, ' 1  but  after  the  obscure  reign  of  Teti  II,  the  first  king 
of  the  new  dynasty,  the  pyramid-city  of  his  successor,  the 
powerful  Pepi  I,  was  so  close  to  the  "White  Wall"  that 

lI,  281. 


THE  DECLINE  OF  THE  OLD  KINGDOM  133 


the  name  of  his  pyramid,  "Men-nofer,"  corrupted  by  the 
Greeks  to  Memphis,  rapidly  became  the  name  of  the  city  and 
' '  White  Wall ' '  survived  only  as  an  archaic  and  poetic  desig- 
nation of  the  place.  The  administration  of  the  residence 
had  become  a  matter  of  sufficient  importance  to  demand  the 
attention  of  the  vizier  himself.  He  henceforth  assumed  its 
immediate  control,  receiving  the  title  "governor  of  the  pyra- 
mid-city" or  "governor  of  the  city"  merely,  for  it  now 
became  customary  to  speak  of  the  residence  as  the  "city." 
Notwithstanding  thorough-going  changes,  the  new  dynasty 
continued  the  official  cult  maintained  by  their  predeces- 
sors. Re  remained  supreme  and  the  old  foundations  were 
respected. 

In  spite  of  the  independence  of  the  new  nobles,  it  is  evident 
that  Pepi  I  possessed  the  necessary  force  to  hold  them  well 
in  hand.  His  monuments,  large  and  small,  are  found 
throughout  Egypt.  Now  began  also  the  biographies  of  the 
officials  of  the  time,  affording  us  a  picture  of  the  busy  life 
of  the  self-satisfied  magnates  of  that  distant  age;  while  to 
these  we  may  fortunately  add  also  their  records  at  the  mines 
and  in  the  quarries.  Loyalty  now  demands  no  more  than 
a  relief  showing  the  king  as  he  worships  his  gods  or  smites 
his  enemies ;  and  this  done  the  vanity  of  the  commander  of 
the  expedition  and  his  fellows  may  be  gratified  in  a  record 
of  their  deeds  or  adventures,  which  becomes  longer  and 
longer  as  time  passes.  Pepi  I  sent  his  chief  architect  and 
the  two  "treasurers  of  the  God,"  besides  the  master  builder 
of  his  pyramid,  and  a  body  of  artisans,  to  the  quarries  at 
Hammamat  to  procure  the  necessary  fine  stone  for  his  pyra- 
mid, and  they  left  in  the  quarry,  besides  two  royal  reliefs, 
three  other  inscriptions,  giving  a  full  list  of  their  names  and 
titles.1  At  the  alabaster  quarry  of  Hatnub  the  governor  of 
the  South,  who  was  also  "great  lord  of  the  Hare-nome," 
recorded  his  execution  of  a  commission  there  for  Pepi  I;2 
while  a  military  commander  perpetuates  his  achievement  of 
a  similar  commission  for  the  same  king  in  the  Wadi 

1  1,  295-301.  2 1,  304-5. 


134 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Maghara  in  Sinai.1  The  pride  of  office  among  the  official 
class  is  undiminished.  So  many  titles  have  now  become 
purely  honourary,— high  sounding  predicates  worn  by  nobles, 
who  performed  none  of  the  duties  once  devolving  upon  the 
incumbents,  that  the  actual  administrators  of  many  offices 
added  the  word  "real"  after  such  titles.  We  have  a  very 
interesting  and  instructive  example  of  this  official  class 
under  the  new  regime,  in  Uni,  a  faithful  adherent  of  the 
royal  house,  who  has  fortunately  left  us  his  biography. 
Under  king  Teti  II  he  had  begun  his  career  at  the  bottom 
as  an  obscure  under-custodian  in  the  royal  domains.2  Pepi 
I  now  appointed  him  as  a  judge,  at  the  same  time  giving 
him  rank  at  the  royal  court,  and  an  income  as  a  priest  of  the 
pyramid-temple.3  He  was  soon  promoted  to  a  superior  cus- 
todianship of  the  royal  domains,  and  in  this  capacity  he 
had  so  gained  the  royal  favour  that  when  a  conspiracy  against 
the  king  arose  in  the  harem  he  was  nominated  with  one  col- 
league to  prosecute  the  case.4  Pepi  I  thus  strove  to  single 
out  men  of  force  and  ability  with  whom  he  might  organize 
a  strong  government,  closely  attached  to  his  fortunes  and  to 
those  of  his  house.  In  the  heart  of  the  southern  country  he 
set  up  among  the  nobles  the  ' '  great  lord  of  the  Hare-nome, ' ' 
and  made  him  governor  of  the  South;  while  he  married  as 
his  official  queens  the  two  sisters  of  the  nomarch  of  Thinis, 
both  bearing  the  same  name,  Enekhnes-Merire,  and  they 
became  the  mothers  of  the  two  kings  who  followed  him.5 

The  foreign  policy  of  Pepi  I  was  more  vigourous  than  that 
of  any  Pharaoh  of  earlier  times.  In  Nubia  he  gained  such 
control  over  the  negro  tribes  that  they  were  obliged  to  con- 
tribute quotas  to  his  army  in  case  of  war,  and  when  such  war 
was  in  the  north,  where  safety  permitted,  these  negro  levies 
were  freely  employed.  The  Bedum  tribes  of  the  north, 
having  become  too  bold  in  their  raiding  of  the  eastern  Delta, 
or  having  troubled  his  mining  expeditions  in  Sinai,  Pepi 
commissioned  Uni  to  collect  such  an  army  among  the  negroes, 
supplemented  by  levies  throughout  Egypt.    The  king  over- 

> 1,  302-3.         « I,  294.  3  I,  307.  *  I,  310.  5  I,  344-9. 


THE  DECLINE  OF  THE  OLD  KINGDOM  135 

looked  many  men  of  much  higher  rank,  and  placing  Uni  in 
command  of  this  army,  sent  him  against  the  Beduin.1  He 
of  course  scattered  them  without  difficulty,  and  having  devas- 
tated their  country,  returned  home.  On  four  more  such 
punitive  expeditions  Pepi  I  sent  him  against  the  tribes  of 
this  country;  and  a  final  show  of  hostility  on  their  part 
at  last  called  him  further  north  than  the  region  on  the  east 
of  the  Delta.  Embarking  his  force,  he  carried  them  in  troop- 
ships along  the  coast  of  southern  Palestine,  and  punished 
the  Beduin  as  far  north  as  the  highlands  of  Palestine.2  This 
marks  the  northernmost  advance  of  the  Pharaohs  of  the  Old 
Kingdom,  and  is  in  accordance  with  the  discovery  of  a 
Sixth  Dynasty  scarab  at  Gezer  below  Jerusalem,  in  strata 
below  those  dated  in  the  Middle  Kingdom.  The  naive  ac- 
count of  these  wars  left  by  Uni  in  his  biography  is  one  of 
the  most  characteristic  evidences  of  the  totally  unwarlike 
spirit  of  the  early  Egyptian. 

Having  thus  firmly  established  his  family  at  the  head  of  the 
state,  the  fact  that  Pepi  Fs  death,  after  a  reign  of  probably 
twenty  years,  left  his  son,  Mernere,  to  administer  the  king- 
dom as  a  mere  youth,  seems  not  in  the  least  to  have  shaken 
its  fortunes.  Mernere  immediately  appointed  Uni,  the  old 
servant  of  his  house,  as  governor  of  the  South,3  under  whose 
trusty  guidance  all  went  well.  The  powerful  nobles  of  the 
southern  frontier  were  also  zealous  in  their  support  of  the 
young  king.  They  were  a  family  of  bold  and  adventurous 
barons,  living  on  the  island  of  Elephantine  (Fig.  74)  just 
below  the  first  cataract.  The  valley  at  the  cataract  was  now 
called  the  "Door  of  the  South "  and  its  defense  against  the 
turbulent  tribes  of  northern  Nubia  was  placed  in  their  hands, 
so  that  the  head  of  the  family  bore  the  title  "Keeper  of  the 
Door  of  the  South/ '  They  made  the  place  so  safe  that  when 
the  king  dispatched  Uni  to  the  granite  quarries  at  the  head 
of  the  cataract  to  procure  the  sarcophagus  and  the  finer 
fittings  for  his  pyramid,  the  noble  was  able  to  accomplish 
his  errand  with  "only  one  warship, "  an  unprecedented  feat.4 

H,  311-313.  a  I,  314-315.  31,  320.  *I,  322. 


136 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


The  enterprising  young  monarch  then  commissioned  Uni  to 
establish  unbroken  connection  by  water  with  the  granite 
quarries  by  opening  a  succession  of  five  canals  through  the 
intervening  granite  barriers  of  the  cataract ;  and  the  faithful 
noble  completed  this  difficult  task,  besides  the  building  of 
seven  boats,  launched  and  laden  with  great  blocks  of  granite 
for  the  royal  pyramid  in  only  one  year.1 

The  north  was  too  difficult  of  access,  too  distinctly  sep- 
arated by  natural  limits  from  the  valley  of  the  Nile  for 
the  Pharaohs  of  this  distant  age  to  attempt  more  in  Asia 
than  the  defense  of  their  frontier  and  the  protection  of  their 
mining  enterprises  in  Sinai.  The  only  barrier  between 
them  and  the  south,  however,  was  the  cataract  region.  Mer- 
nere  had  now  made  the  first  cataract  passable  for  Nile  boats 
at  high  water,  and  a  closer  control,  if  not  the  conquest  of 
northern  Nubia  was  quite  feasible.  It  was  not  of  itself  a 
country  which  the  agricultural  Egyptian  could  utilize.  The 
strip  of  cultivable  soil  between  the  Nile  and  the  desert  on 
either  hand  was  in  Nubia  so  scanty,  even  in  places  disap- 
pearing altogether,  that  its  agricultural  value  was  slight. 
But  the  high  ridges  and  valleys  in  the  desert  on  the  east  con- 
tained rich  veins  of  gold-bearing  quartz,  and  iron  ore2  was 
plentiful  also,  although  no  workings  of  it  have  been  found 
there.  The  country  was  furthermore  the  only  gateway  to 
the  regions  of  the  south,  with  which  constant  trade  was  now 
maintained.  Besides  gold,  the  Sudan  sent  down  the  river 
ostrich  feathers,  ebony  logs,  panther  skins  and  ivory;  while 
along  the  same  route,  from  Punt  and  the  countries  further 
east,  came  myrrh,  fragrant  gums  and  resins  and  aromatic 
woods.  It  was  therefore  an  absolute  necessity  that  the 
Pharaoh  should  command  this  route.  We  know  little  of  the 
negro  and  negroid  tribes  who  inhabited  the  cataract  region 
at  this  time.  Immediately  south  of  the  Egyptian  frontier 
dwelt  the  tribes  of  Wawat,  extending  well  toward  the  second 
cataract,  above  which  the  entire  region  of  the  upper  cataracts 

i  I,  324. 

2Rossing;  Geschichte  der  Metalle.,  pp.  81,  83  sq. 


THE  DECLINE  OF  THE  OLD  KINGDOM  13V 


was  known  as  Kush,  although  the  name  does  not  commonly 
occur  on  the  monuments  until  the  Middle  Kingdom.  In  the 
upper  half  of  the  huge  "  S  "  formed  by  the  course  of  the  Nile 
between  the  junction  of  the  two  Niles  and  the  second  catar- 
act, was  included  the  territory  of  the  powerful  Mazoi,  who 
afterward  appeared  as  auxiliaries  in  the  Egyptian  army  in 
such  numbers  that  the  Egyptian  word  for  soldier  ultimately 
became  "Matoi,"  a  late  (Coptic)  form  of  Mazoi.  Probably 
on  the  west  of  the  Mazoi  was  the  land  of  Yam,  and  between 
Yam  and  Mazoi  on  the  south  and  Wawat  on  the  north  were 
distributed  several  tribes,  of  whom  Irthet  and  Sethut  were 
the  most  important.  The  last  two,  together  with  Wawat, 
were  sometimes  united  under  one  chief.1  All  these  tribes 
were  still  in  the  barbarous  stage.  They  dwelt  in  squalid 
settlements  of  mud  huts  along  the  river,  or  beside  wells  in 
the  valleys  running  up  country  from  the  Nile;  and  besides 
the  flocks  and  herds  which  they  maintained,  they  also  lived 
upon  the  scanty  produce  of  their  small  grain-fields. 

Doubtless  utilizing  his  new  canal,  Mernere  now  devoted 
special  attention  to  the  exploitation  of  these  regions.  His 
power  was  so  respected  by  the  chiefs  of  Wawat,  Irthet,  Mazoi 
and  Yam  that  they  furnished  the  timber  for  the  heavy  cargo- 
boats  built  by  Uni  for  the  granite  blocks  which  he  took  out 
at  the  first  cataract.2  In  his  fifth  year  Mernere  did  what 
no  Pharaoh  before  him  had  ever  done,  in  so  far  as  we  are 
informed.  He  appeared  at  the  first  cataract  in  person  to 
receive  the  homage  of  the  southern  chiefs,  and  left  upon  the 
rocks  a  record  of  the  event,— a  relief 3  depicting  the  Pharaoh 
leaning  upon  his  staff,  while  the  Nubian  chiefs  bow  down  in 
his  presence.  The  unprecedented  nature  of  the  event  is  inti- 
mated in  the  accompanying  inscription :  ' '  The  coming  of  the 
king  himself,  appearing  behind  the  hill-country  [of  the  cat- 
aract], that  he  might  see  that  which  is  in  the  hill-country, 
while  the  chiefs  of  Mazoi,  Irthet  and  Wawat  did  obeisance 
and  gave  great  praise."4 

Mernere  now  utilized  the  services  of  the  Elephantine 

*I,  336.  2 1,  324.  »I,  316-318.  'Ibid 


138 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


nobles  in  tightening  his  hold  upon  the  southern  chiefs. 
Harkhuf,  who  was  then  lord  of  Elephantine,  was  also  ap- 
pointed governor  of  the  South,1  perhaps  as  the  successor  of 
Uni,  who  was  now  too  old  for  active  service,  or  had  meantime 
possibly  died ;  although  the  title  had  now  become  an  honour- 
able epithet  or  title  of  honour  worn  by  more  than  one  deserv- 
ing noble  at  this  time.  It  was  upon  Harkhuf  and  his  relatives, 
a  family  of  daring  and  adventurous  nobles,  that  the  Pharaoh 
now  depended  as  leaders  of  the  arduous  and  dangerous  expe- 
ditions which  should  intimidate  the  barbarians  on  his  fron- 
tiers and  maintain  his  prestige  and  his  trade  connections  in 
the  distant  regions  of  the  south.  These  men  are  the  earliest 
known  explorers  of  inner  Africa  and  the  southern  Red  Sea. 
At  least  two  of  the  family  perished  in  executing  the 
Pharaoh's  hazardous  commissions  in  these  far  off  lands,  a 
significant  hint  of  the  hardships  and  perils  to  which  they 
were  all  exposed.  Besides  their  princely  titulary  as  lords 
of  Elephantine  they  all  bore  the  title  "caravan-conductor, 
who  brings  the  products  of  the  countries  to  his  lord, ' '  which 
they  proudly  display  upon  their  tombs,  excavated  high  in 
the  front  of  the  cliffs  facing  modern  Assuan,  where  they  still 
look  down  upon  the  island  of  Elephantine,  the  one  time  home 
of  the  ancient  lords  who  occupy  them.2  Here  Harkhuf  has 
recorded  how  Mernere  dispatched  him  on  three  successive 
expeditions  to  distant  Yam.3  On  the  first,  as  he  was  still 
young,  he  was  therefore  accompanied  by  his  father  Iri.  He 
was  gone  seven  months.  On  the  second  journey  he  was 
allowed  to  go  alone  and  returned  in  safety  in  eight  months. 
His  third  expedition  was  more  adventurous  and  correspond- 
ingly more  successful.  Arriving  in  Yam,  he  found  its  chief 
engaged  in  a  war  with  the  southernmost  settlements  of  the 
Temehu,  tribes  related  to  the  Libyans,  on  the  west  of  Yam. 
Harkhuf  immediately  went  after  him  and  had  no  difficulty 
in  reducing  him  to  subjection.  The  tribute  and  the  products 
of  the  south  obtained  in  trade  during  his  stay  were  loaded 
upon  three  hundred  asses,  and  with  a  heavy  escort  furnished 

"  I,  332.  2  Fig.  74.  3  I,  333-6.     See  also  Fig.  76. 


THE  DECLINE  OF  THE  OLD  KINGDOM  139 


by  the  chief  of  Yam,  Harkhuf  set  out  for  the  north.  The 
chief  of  Irthet,  Sethu  and  Wawat,  awed  by  the  large  force 
of  Egyptians,  and  the  escort  of  Yamites  accompanying 
Harkhuf,  made  no  effort  to  plunder  his  richly  laden  train, 
but  brought  him  an  offering  of  cattle  and  gave  him  guides. 
He  reached  the  cataract  with  his  valuable  cargo  in  safety, 
and  was  met  there  by  a  messenger  of  the  Pharaoh,  with  a 
Nile  boat  full  of  delicacies  and  provisions  from  the  court, 
dispatched  by  the  king  for  the  refreshment  of  the  now  weary 
and  exhausted  noble. 

These  operations  for  the  winning  of  the  extreme  south 
were  interrupted  by  the  untimely  death  of  Mernere.  He 
was  buried  behind  Memphis  in  the  granite  sarcophagus  pro- 
cured for  him  by  Uni,  in  the  pyramid  for  which  Uni  had 
likewise  laboured  so  faithfully,  and  here  his  body  survived 
(Fig.  77),  in  spite  of  vandals  and  tomb-robbers,  until  its 
removal  to  the  museum  at  Gizeh  in  1881.  As  Mernere 
reigned  only  four  years  and  died  early  in  his  fifth  year 
without  issue,  the  succession  devolved  upon  his  half-brother, 
who,  although  only  a  child,  ascended  the  throne  as  Pepi  II. 
His  accession  and  successful  rule  speak  highly  for  the  sta- 
bility of  the  family,  and  the  faithfulness  of  the  influential 
nobles  attached  to  it.  Pepi  II  was  the  son  of  Enekhnes- 
Merire,  the  second  sister  of  the  Thinite  nomarch,  whom  Pepi 
I  first  had  taken  as  his  queen.  Her  brother  Zau,  Pepi  II  's 
uncle,  who  was  now  nomarch  of  Thinis,  was  appointed  by 
the  child-king  as  vizier,  chief  judge  and  governor  of  the  resi- 
dence city.1  He  thus  had  charge  of  the  state  during  his 
royal  nephew 's  minority,  and  as  far  as  we  can  now  discern, 
the  government  proceeded  without  the  slightest  disturbance. 

Pepi  II,  or  in  the  beginning,  of  course,  his  ministers,  imme- 
diately resumed  the  designs  of  the  royal  house  in  the  south. 
In  the  young  king 's  second  year,  Harkhuf  was  for  the  fourth 
time  dispatched  to  Yam,  whence  he  returned  bringing  a 
rich  pack  train  and  a  dwarf  (Figs.  41,  75)  from  one  of  the 
pigmy  tribes  of  inner  Africa.    These  uncouth,  bandy-legged 

*I,  344-9. 


140 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


creatures  were  highly  prized  by  the  noble  class  in  Egypt ;  they 
were  not  unlike  the  merry  genius  Bes  in  appearance,  and 
they  executed  dances  in  which  the  Egyptians  took  the  great- 
est delight.  The  land  from  which  they  came  was  connected 
by  the  Nile-dwellers  with  the  mysterious  region  of  the  west, 
the  sojourn  of  the  dead,  which  they  called  the  "land  of 
spirits,"  and  the  dwarfs  from  this  sacred  land  were  espe- 
cially desired  for  the  dances 
with  which  the  king's  leisure 
hours  were  diverted.  The 
child-king  was  so  delighted 
on  receiving  news  of  Hark- 
huf 's  arrival  at  the  frontier 
with  one  of  these  pigmies 
that  he  wrote  the  fortunate 
noble  a  long  letter  of  instruc- 
tions, cautioning  him  to  have 
it  closely  watched  lest  any 
harm  should  come  to  it,  or 
it  should  fall  into  the  Nile; 
and  promising  Harkhuf  a 
greater  reward  than  king 
Isesi  had  given  to  his  "treas- 
urer of  the  God,"  Burded, 
when  he  brought  home  a 
dwarf  from  Punt.  Harkhuf 
was  so  proud  of  this  letter 
that  he  had  it  engraved  on 
the  front  of  his  tomb  (Fig. 
76),  as  an  evidence  of  the 
great  favour  which  he  en- 
joyed with  the  royal  house.1 
Not  all  of  these  hardy  lords  of  Elephantine,  who  adven- 
tured their  lives  in  the  tropical  fastnesses  of  inner  Africa 
in  the  twenty  sixth  century  before  Christ  were  as  fortunate 
as  Harkhuf.  One  of  them,  a  governor  of  the  South,  named 
Sebni,  suddenly  received  news  of  the  death  of  his  father, 


Fig.  75.    Statue  of  an  Old  Empibe 
Dwarf.     (From  Maspero's 
Archaeology. ) 


I,  350-354. 


THE  DECLINE  OP  THE  OLD  KINGDOM  141 

prince  Mekhu,  while  on  an  expedition  south  of  Wawat. 
Sebni  quickly  mustered  the  troops  of  his  domain,  and  with 
a  train  of  a  hundred  asses  marched  rapidly  southward,  pun- 
ished the  tribe  to  whom  Mekhu 's  death  was  presumably  due, 
rescued  the  body  of  his  father,  and  loading  it  upon  an  ass, 
returned  to  the  frontier.  He  had  before  dispatched  a  mes- 
senger to  inform  the  Pharaoh  of  the  facts,  sending  a  tusk  of 
ivory  five  feet  long,  and  adding  that  the  best  one  in  his  cargo 
was  ten  feet  long.  On  reaching  the  cataract  he  found  that  this 
messenger  had  returned,  bearing  a  gracious  letter  from  the 
Pharaoh,  who  had  also  sent  a  whole  company  of  royal  em- 
balmers,  undertakers,  mourners  and  mortuary  priests,  with 
a  liberal  -supply  of  fine  linen,  spices,  oils  and  rich  perfumes, 
that  they  might  immediately  embalm  the  body  of  the  de- 
ceased noble  and  proceed  to  the  interment.  Sebni  then  went 
to  Memphis  to  pay  his  respects  to  the  Pharaoh  and  deliver 
the  rich  cargo  which  his  father  had  collected  in  the  south. 
He  was  shown  every  mark  of  royal  favour  for  his  pious  deed 
in  rescuing  his  father's  body.  Splendid  gifts  and  the  ' 1  gold 
of  praise "  were  showered  upon  him,  and  later  an  official 
communication  from  the  vizier  conveyed  to  him  a  parcel 
of  land.1 

A  loose  sovereignty  was  now  extended  over  the  Nubian 
tribes,  and  Pepinakht,  one  of  the  Elephantine  lords,  was 
placed  in  control  with  the  title  "governor  of  foreign  coun- 
tries."2 In  this  capacity  Pepi  II  sent  him  against  Wawat 
and  Irthet,  whence  he  returned  after  great  slaughter  among 
the  rebels,  with  numerous  captives  and  children  of  the  chiefs 
as  hostages.3  A  second  campaign  there  was  still  more  suc- 
cessful, as  he  captured  the  two  chiefs  of  these  countries  them- 
selves, besides  their  two  commanders  and  plentiful  spoil 
from  their  herds.4  Expeditions  were  pushed  far  into  the 
upper  cataract  region,  which  is  once  called  Kush  in  the  Ele- 
phantine tombs,5  and,  in  general,  the  preliminary  work  was 
done  which  made  possible  the  complete  conquest  of  lower 
Nubia  in  the  Middle  Kingdom.    Indeed  that  conquest  would 

1I,  362-74.  2  1,  356.  8  I,  358.  *  I,  359.  6 1,  361. 


142 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


now  have  been  begun  had  not  internal  causes  produced  the 
fall  of  the  Sixth  Dynasty. 

The  responsibility  for  the  development  of  Egyptian  com- 
merce with  the  land  of  Punt  and  the  region  of  the  southern 
Red  Sea  also  fell  upon  the  lords  of  Elephantine.  Evidently 
they  had  charge  of  the  whole  south  from  the  Red  Sea  to  the 
Nile.  Not  less  dangerous  than  their  exploits  in  Nubia  were 
the  adventures  of  the  Elephantine  commanders  who  were 
sent  to  Punt.  There  was  no  water  way  connecting  the  Nile 
with  the  Red  Sea,  and  these  leaders  were  obliged  to  build 
their  ships  at  the  eastern  terminus  of  the  Coptos  caravan 
route  from  the  Nile,  on  the  shore  of  the  sea  in  one  of  the 
harbours  like  Koser  or  Leucos  Limen.  Sailing  vessels  were 
much  improved  in  the  Sixth  Dynasty  by  the  mounting  of  the 
ancient  steering  oar  on  a  kind  of  rudder  post  and  the  attach- 
ment of  a  tiller.  While  so  engaged,  Enenkhet,  Pepi  IPs 
naval  commander,  was  fallen  upon  by  the  Beduin,  who  slew 
him  and  his  entire  command.  Pepinakht  was  immediately 
dispatched  by  the  Pharaoh  to  rescue  the  body  of  the  unfor- 
tunate noble.  He  accomplished  his  dangerous  errand  suc- 
cessfully, and  having  punished  the  Beduin,  he  returned  in 
safety.1  In  spite  of  these  risks,  the  communication  with 
Punt  was  now  active  and  frequent.  A  subordinate  official 
of  the  Elephantine  family  boasts  in  his  lord's  tomb  that  he 
accompanied  him  to  Punt  no  less  than  probably  eleven  times 
and  returned  in  safety.2  It  will  be  seen  that  the  usually 
accepted  seclusion  of  the  Old  Kingdom  can  no  longer  be 
maintained.  Far  from  allowing  himself  to  be  isolated  by 
the  deserts  which  enveloped  his  land  on  east  and  west,  or 
the  cataract  which  had  once  formed  his  southern  boundary, 
the  Pharaoh  was  now  maintaining  an  active  and  flourishing 
commerce  with  the  south ;  while  the  royal  fleets  brought  cedar 
from  the  heights  of  Lebanon  on  the  north.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances direct  commercial  intercourse  with  the  distant 
island  civilization  which  preceded  the  Mycenaean  culture  in 


lI,  360. 


2 1,  361. 


Fig.  76.— TOMB  OF  HARKHUF  AT  ASSUAN. 

The  end  of  the  letter  of  p.  140  is  discernible  on  the  right  edge.  (From 
stereograph  copyright  by  Underwood  &  Underwood,  X.  V.) 


Fig.  77.— HEAD  OF  KING  MERNERE.  Fig.  78  — WESTERN  CLIFFS  OF  SIUT. 

(Cairo  Museum.)  Containing  tombs  of  Ninth  and  Tenth  Dynasty  Nom- 

archs.  (From  stereograph  copyright  by  Underwood 
&  Underwood,  N.  Y.) 


THE  DECLINE  OF  THE  OLD  KINGDOM 


143 


the  north  would  have  been  nothing  remarkable,  and  archaeo- 
logical evidence  now  shows  that  it  existed. 

Pepi  II,  having  ascended  the  throne  as  a  mere  child,  doubt- 
less born  just  before  his  father's  death,  enjoyed  the  longest 
reign  yet  recorded  in  history.  The  tradition  of  Manetho 
states  that  he  was  six  years  old  when  he  began  to  reign,  and 
that  he  continued  until  the  hundredth  year,  doubtless  mean- 
ing of  his  life.  The  list  preserved  by  Eratosthenes  avers 
that  he  reigned  a  full  century.  The  Turin  Papyrus  of  kings 
supports  the  first  tradition,  giving  him  over  ninety  years, 
and  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  its  truth.  His  was  thus  the 
longest  reign  in  history.  Several  brief  reigns  followed, 
among  them  possibly  that  of  the  queen  Nitocris,  to  whose 
name  were  attached  the  absurdest  legends.  Two  kings,  Iti 
and  Imhotep,  whose  officials  visited  Hammamat  to  secure 
the  stone  for  their  pyramids  and  statues,1  may  possibly 
belong  in  this  time,  though  they  may  equally  well  have  ruled 
at  the  close  of  the  Fifth  Dynasty;  but  after  the  death  of 
Pepi  II  all  is  uncertain,  and  impenetrable  obscurity  veils 
the  last  days  of  the  Sixth  Dynasty.  When  it  had  ruled  some- 
thing over  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  the  power  of 
the  landed  barons  became  a  centrifugal  force,  which  the 
Pharaohs  could  no  longer  withstand,  and  the  dissolution  of 
the  state  resulted.  The  nomes  gained  their  independence, 
the  Old  Kingdom  fell  to  pieces,  and  for  a  time  was  thus 
resolved  into  the  petty  principalities  of  prehistoric  times. 
Nearly  a  thousand  years  of  unparalleled  development  since 
the  rise  of  a  united  state,  thus  ended,  in  the  twenty  fifth 
century  B.  C,  in  political  conditions  like  those  which  had  pre- 
vailed in  the  beginning. 

It  had  been  a  thousand  years  of  inexhaustible  fertility 
when  the  youthful  strength  of  a  people  of  boundless  energy 
had  for  the  first  time  found  the  organized  form  in  which  it 
could  best  express  itself.  In  every  direction  we  see  the 
products  of  a  national  freshness  and  vigour  which  are  never 
spent ;  the  union  of  the  country  under  a  single  guiding  hand 
which  had  quelled  internal  dissensions  and  directed  the  com- 
bined energies  of  a  great  people  toward  harmonious  effort, 

»  I,  386-390. 


144 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


had  brought  untold  blessing.  The  Pharaohs  to  whom  the 
unparalleled  grandeur  of  this  age  was  due  not  only  gained 
a  place  among  the  gods  in  their  own  time,  but  two  thousand 
years  later,  at  the  close  of  Egypt's  history  as  an  independent 
nation,  in  the  Twenty  Sixth  Dynasty,  we  still  find  the  priests 
who  were  appointed  to  maintain  their  worship.  And  at  the 
end  of  her  career,  when  the  nation  had  lost  all  that  youthful 
elasticity  and  creative  energy  which  so  abounded  in  the  Old 
Kingdom,  the  sole  effort  of  her  priests  and  wise  men  was 
to  restore  the  unsullied  religion,  life  and  government  which 
in  their  fond  imagination  had  existed  in  the  Old  Kingdom, 
as  they  looked  wistfully  back  upon  it  across  the  millennia. 
To  us  it  has  left  the  imposing  line  of  temples,  tombs  and 
pyramids,  stretching  for  many  miles  along  the  margin  of  the 
western  desert,  the  most  eloquent  witnesses  to  the  fine  intel- 
ligence and  titanic  energies  of  the  men  who  made  the  Old 
Kingdom  what  it  was;  not  alone  achieving  these  wonders 
of  mechanics  and  internal  organization,  but  building  the 
earliest  known  sea-going  ships  and  exploring  unknown 
waters,  or  pushing  their  commercial  enterprises  far  up  the 
Nile  into  inner  Africa.  In  plastic  art  they  had  reached  the 
highest  achievement;  in  architecture  their  tireless  genius 
had  created  the  column  and  originated  the  colonnade;  in 
government  they  had  elaborated  an  enlightened  and  highly 
developed  state,  with  a  large  body  of  law;  in  religion  they 
were  already  dimly  conscious  of  a  judgment  in  the  hereafter, 
and  they  were  thus  the  first  men  whose  ethical  intuitions 
made  happiness  in  the  future  life  dependent  upon  character. 
Everywhere  their  unspent  energies  unfolded  in  a  rich  and 
manifold  culture  which  left  the  world  such  a  priceless  heri- 
tage as  no  nation  had  yet  bequeathed  it.  It  now  remains  to 
be  seen,  as  we  stand  at  the  close  of  this  remarkable  age, 
whether  the  conflict  of  local  with  centralized  authority  shall 
exhaust  the  elemental  strength  of  this  ancient  people;  or 
whether  such  a  reconciliation  can  be  effected  as  will  again 
produce  harmony  and  union,  permitting  the  continuance  of 
the  marvellous  development  of  which  we  have  witnessed  the 
first  fruits. 


BOOK  III 
THE  MIDDLE  KINGDOM 
THE  FEUDAL  AGE 


CHAPTER  VIII 


THE  DECLINE  OF  THE  NORTH  AND  THE  RISE  OF 

THEBES. 

The  internal  struggle  which  caused  the  fall  of  the  Old 
Kingdom  developed  at  last  into  a  convulsion,  in  which  the 
destructive  forces  were  for  a  time  completely  triumphant. 
Exactly  when  and  by  whom  the  ruin  was  wrought  is  not  now 
determinable,  but  the  magnificent  mortuary  works  of  the 
greatest  of  the  Old  Kingdom  monarchs  fell  victims  to  a  car- 
nival of  destruction  in  which  many  of  them  were  annihilated. 
The  temples  were  not  merely  pillaged  and  violated,  but  their 
finest  works  of  art  were  subjected  to  systematic  and  deter- 
mined vandalism,  which  shattered  the  splendid  granite  and 
diorite  statues  of  the  kings  into  bits,  or  hurled  them  into  the 
well  in  the  monumental  gate  of  the  pyramid-causeway. 
Thus  the  foes  of  the  old  regime  wreaked  vengeance  upon 
those  who  had  represented  and  upheld  it.  The  nation  was 
totally  disorganized.  From  the  scanty  notes  of  Manetho  it 
would  appear  that  an  oligarchy,  possibly  representing  an 
attempt  of  the  nobles  to  set  up  their  joint  rule,  assumed 
control  for  a  brief  time  at  Memphis.  Manetho  calls  them 
the  Seventh  Dynasty.  He  follows  them  with  an  Eighth 
Dynasty  of  Memphite  kings,  who  are  but  the  lingering 
shadow  of  ancient  Memphite  power.  Their  names  as  pre- 
served in  the  Abydos  list  show  that  they  regarded  the  Sixth 
Dynasty  as  their  ancestors ;  but  none  of  their  pyramids  has 
ever  been  found,  nor  have  we  been  able  to  date  any  tombs 
of  the  local  nobility  in  this  dark  age.  In  the  mines  and 
quarries  of  Sinai  and  Hammamat,  where  records  of  every 
prosperous  line  of  kings  proclaim  their  power,  not  a  trace 
of  these  ephemeral  Pharaohs  can  be  found.    It  was  a  period 

147 


148 


A  HISTORY  OP  EGYPT 


of  such  weakness  and  disorganization  that  neither  king  nor 
noble  was  able  to  erect  monumental  works  which  might  have 
survived  to  tell  us  something  of  the  time.  How  long  this 
unhappy  condition  may  have  continued  it  is  now  quite  impos- 
sible to  determine.  In  the  alabaster  quarries  at  Hatnub 
quantities  of  inscriptions  nevertheless  record  work  there  by 
the  lords  of  the  Hare-nome,  thus  indicating  the  gathering 
power  of  the  noble  houses  who  disregard  the  king  and  date 
events  in  years  of  their  own  rule.  One  of  these  dynasts  even 
records  with  pride  his  repulse  of  the  king's  power,  saying: 
"I  rescued  my  city  in  the  day  of  violence  from  the  terrors 
of  the  royal  house."1  A  generation  after  the  fall  of  the 
Sixth  Dynasty  a  family  of  Heracleopolitan  nomarchs  wrested 
the  crown  from  the  weak  Memphites  of  the  Eighth  Dynasty, 
who  may  have  lingered  on,  claiming  royal  honours  for  nearly 
another  century. 

Some  degree  of  order  was  finally  restored  by  the  triumph 
of  the  nomarchs  of  Heracleopolis.  This  city,  just  south  of 
the  Fayum,  had  been  the  seat  of  a  temple  and  cult  of  Horus 
from  the  earliest  dynastic  times,  and  the  princes  of  the  town 
now  succeeded  in  placing  one  of  their  number  on  the  throne. 
Akhthoes,  who,  according  to  Manetho,  was  the  founder  of 
the  new  dynasty,  must  have  taken  grim  vengeance  on  his 
enemies,  for  all  that  Manetho  knows  of  him  is  that  he  was 
the  most  violent  of  all  the  kings  of  the  time,  and  that,  having 
been  seized  with  madness,  he  was  slain  by  a  crocodile.  The 
new  house  is  known  to  Manetho  as  the  Ninth  and  Tenth 
Dynasties,  but  its  kings  were  still  too  feeble  to  leave  any 
enduring  monuments;  neither  have  any  records  contem- 
porary with  the  family  survived  except  during  the  last  three 
generations  when  the  powerful  nomarchs  of  Siut  were  able  to 
excavate  cliff -tombs  (Fig.  78)  in  which  they  fortunately  left 
records2  of  the  active  and  successful  career  of  their  family. 
They  offer  us  a  hint  of  what  the  state  of  the  country  had 
been  when  the  Heracleopolitan  princes  restored  order,  for 
the  nobles  of  Siut  say  of  their  own  domains:  " Every  official 

XI,  690.  2 1,  391-414. 


DECLINE  OF  NORTH  AND  RISE  OP  THEBES  149 


was  at  his  post,  there  was  no  one  fighting,  nor  any  shooting 
an  arrow.  The  child  was  not  smitten  beside  his  mother,  nor 
the  citizen  beside  his  wife.  There  was  no  evil-doer  .  .  . 
nor  any  one  doing  violence  against  his  house."1  "When 
night  came,  he  who  slept  on  the  road  gave  me  praise,  for  he 
was  like  a  man  in  his  house ;  the  fear  of  my  soldier  was  his 
protection. '  '2 

These  Siut  nomarchs  enjoyed  the  most  intimate  relations 
with  the  royal  house  at  Heracleopolis ;  we  first  find  the  king 
attending  the  burial  of  the  head  of  their  noble  house;  and 
while  the  daughter  of  the  deceased  prince  ruled  in  Siut,  her 
son,  Kheti,  then  a  lad,  was  placed  with  the  children  of  the 
royal  household  to  be  educated.3  When  old  enough,  he 
relieved  his  mother  of  the  regency,  and  if  we  may  judge  of 
the  entire  country  from  the  administration  of  this  Siut  noble, 
the  land  must  have  enjoyed  prosperity  and  plenty.  He  dug 
canals,  reduced  taxation,  reaped  rich  harvests,  and  main- 
tained large  herds ;  while  he  had  always  in  readiness  a  body 
of  troops  and  a  fleet.  Such  was  the  wealth  and  power  of 
these  Siut  nobles  that  they  soon  became  a  buffer  state  on 
the  south  of  inestimable  value  to  the  house  of  Heracleopolis, 
and  Kheti  was  made  military  "commander  of  Middle 
Egypt."4 

Meantime  among  the  nobles  of  the  South  a  similar  pow- 
erful family  of  nomarchs  was  slowly  rising  into  notice. 
Come  four  hundred  and  forty  miles  above  Memphis,  and 
less  than  one  hundred  and  forty  miles  below  the  first  cat- 
aract, along  the  stretch  of  Nile  about  forty  miles  above  the 
great  bend,  where  the  river  approaches  most  closely  to  the 
Red  Sea  before  turning  abruptly  away  from  it,  the  scanty 
margin  between  river  and  cliffs  expands  into  a  broad  and 
fruitful  plain  in  the  midst  of  which  now  lie  the  mightiest 
ruins  of  ancient  civilization  to  be  found  anywhere  in  the 
world.  They  are  the  wreck  of  Thebes,  the  world's  first  great 
monumental  city.  At  this  time  it  was  an  obscure  provincial 
town  and  the  neighbouring  Hermonthis  was  the  seat  of  a 

I,  404.  2  1,  395,  1.  10,  3  i?  413,  4  I,  410, 


150 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


family  of  nomarchs,  the  Intefs  and  Mentuhoteps.  Toward 
the  close  of  the  Heracleopolitan  supremacy,  Thebes  had 
gained  the  leading  place  in  the  South,  and  its  nomarch,  Intef, 
was  "keeper  of  the  Door  of  the  South."1  The  South  stood 
together  and  in  time  of  scarcity  we  see  the  nomes  aiding  each 
other  with  grain  and  provisions.2  Intef  was  soon  able  to 
organize  the  whole  South  in  rebellion,  mustering  his  forces 
from  the  cataract  northward  at  least  as  far  as  Thebes.  He 
and  his  successors  finally  wrenched  the  southern  confedera- 
tion from  the  control  of  Heracleopolis,  and  organized  an 
independent  kingdom,  with  Thebes  at  its  head.  This  Intef 
was  ever  after  recognized  as  the  ancestor  of  the  Theban  line, 
and  the  monarchs  of  the  Middle  Kingdom  set  up  his  statue 
in  the  temple  at  Thebes  among  those  of  their  royal  prede- 
cessors who  were  worshipped  there.3 

At  this  juncture,  the  unshaken  fidelity  of  the  Siut  princes 
was  the  salvation  of  the  house  of  Heracleopolis;  for  Tefibi 
of  Siut,  perhaps  a  son  of  the  nomarch  Kheti,  whom  we  first 
found  there,  now  placed  his  army  in  the  field  against  the 
aggression  of  Thebes.  He  marched  southward  to  stem  an 
invasion  of  the  southerners,  and  meeting  them  on  the  west 
shore  of  the  river,  drove  them  back,  recovering  lost  territory 
as  far  south  as  "the  fortress  of  the  Port  of  the  South,"  prob- 
ably Abydos.4  A  second  army  which  was  advancing  to  meet 
him  on  the  east  shore  was  likewise  defeated ;  the  ships  of  a 
southern  fleet  were  forced  ashore,  their  commander  driven 
into  the  river  and  the  ships  apparently  captured  by  Tefibi.5 
His  son  Kheti  was  now  appointed  as  "military  commander 
of  the  whole  land, ' '  and  "great  lord  of  Middle  Egypt. ' ,6  He 
continued  loyal  support  of  his  sovereign,  Merikere  of  Hera- 
cleopolis, and  was  the  veritable  "king-maker"  of  that  now 
tottering  house.  He  suppressed  an  insurrection  on  the 
southern  frontier,  and  brought  the  king  southward,  appar- 
ently to  witness  the  submission  of  the  rebellious  districts. 
Returning  northward  with  the  king,  Kheti  narrates  with 

*I,  420.  »1,  457-9.  »I,  419. 

4  1,  396.  5  Ibid.  •!,  398,  403,  1,  23. 


DECLINE  OF  NORTH  AND  RISE  OF  THEBES  151 


pride  how  his  (Kheti's)  enormous  fleet  stretched  for  miles 
up  the  river  as  he  passed  his  home.  At  Heracleopolis,  where 
they  landed  in  triumph,  Kheti  says,1  "the  city  came,  rejoic- 
ing over  her  lord  .  .  .  women  mingled  with  men,  old  men 
and  children."  Thus  in  the  tomb  inscriptions  (Fig.  78)  of 
these  Siut  lords  we  gain  a  fleeting  glimpse  of  the  Heraele- 
opolitan  kings,  just  as  they  are  about  to  disappear  finally 
from  the  scene. 

Meanwhile  the  fortunes  of  Thebes  have  been  constantly 
rising.  Intef,  the  nomarch,  had  been  succeeded  (whether 
immediately  or  not  is  uncertain)  by  another  Intef,  who  was 
the  first  of  the  Thebans  to  assume  royal  honours  and  titles, 
thus  becoming  Intef  I,  the  first  king  of  the  dynasty.  He 
pressed  the  Heracleopolitans  vigourously,  pushed  his  frontier 
northward,  and  captured  Abydos  and  the  entire  Thinite 
nome.  He  made  its  northern  boundary  the  "Door  of  the 
North,"2  that  is,  the  northern  frontier  of  his  kingdom,  as 
Elephantine  at  the  first  cataract  was  the  1 1  Door  of  the  South. ' ' 
His  "Door  of  the  North"  was  in  all  probability  Tefibi  of 
Siut's  "fortress  of  the  Port  of  the  South."3  His  long  reign 
of  over  fifty  years  ended,  he  was  followed  by  his  son,  Intef 
II,  of  whom  we  know  little  beyond  the  fact  of  his  succes- 
sion.4 It  was  now  that  the  accession  of  a  line  of  Mentuho- 
teps,  probably  a  collateral  branch  of  the  Theban  family, 
established  the  universal  supremacy  of  Thebes.  Mentuho- 
tep  II  evidently  brought  the  war  with  the  North  to  a  trium- 
phant close.  He  boasted  with  impunity  of  his  victories  over 
his  countrymen  and  on  the  walls  of  his  temple  at  Gebelen 
he  depicted  himself  striking  down  Egyptian  and  foreigner 
together,  while  the  accompanying  inscription  designates  the 
scene  as  the  "binding  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Two  Lands,  cap- 
turing the  South  and  Northland,  the  foreign  countries  and 
the  two  regions  [Egypt],  the  Nine  Bows  [foreigners],  and 
the  Two  Lands"  [Egypt].5  About  the  middle  of  the  twenty 
second  century  B.  C,  therefore,  the  Heracleopolitan  power, 

'I,  401.  2  I,  422,  423  D,  1.  4. 

3  See  above,  p.  150.  *  I,  423  G.  5  I,  423  H. 


152 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


never  very  vigourous,  completely  collapsed,  the  supremacy 
passed  from  the  North  to  the  South,  and  thus,  perhaps  nearly 
three  centuries  after  the  fall  of  the  Sixth  Dynasty  and  the 
close  of  the  Old  Kingdom,  Egypt  was  reunited  under  a 
strong  and  vigourous  line  of  princes,  capable  of  curbing  in 
a  measure  the  powerful  and  refractory  lords,  who  are  now 
firmly  entrenched  in  the  nomes  all  over  the  land.  Nothing 
is  certainly  known  of  the  family  relations  of  this  new  Theban 
house.  The  kingship  presumably  passed  from  father  to  son, 
but  there  are  clear  evidences  of  rival  claims  to  the  sceptre, 
nor  is  the  order  of  the  kings  entirely  certain. 

Eoyal  expeditions  abroad,  long  interrupted,  were  now 
resumed.  Nibtowere-Mentuhotep  Ill's  vizier,  Amenemhet 
left  a  series  of  very  interesting  inscriptions  in  the  Hamma- 
mat  quarries,  telling  of  his  twenty  five  days'  sojourn  there 
for  the  purpose  of  procuring  the  blocks  for  the  king's 
sarcophagus  and  lid,  with  an  expedition  of  ten  thousand 
men,  the  largest  thus  far  known  in  the  history  of  Egypt. 
Min,  the  god  of  the  region,  granted  them  the  greatest  mar- 
vels in  furthering  their  work ;  a  gazelle  ran  before  the  work- 
men and  dropped  her  young  upon  the  very  block  which 
they  were  able  to  use  for  the  sarcophagus-lid;  and  later  a 
rain-storm  filled  the  neighbouring  well  to  the  brim.  The 
work  was  thus  speedily  completed,  and  Amenemhet  boasts 
' ' My  soldiers  returned  without  loss;  not  a  man  perished, 
not  a  troop  was  missing,  not  an  ass  died,  not  a  workman 
was  enfeebled."1  The  men  for  these  expeditions  were 
drawn  from  all  parts  of  the  kingdom;  it  is  thus  evident 
that  the  last  three  Mentuhoteps  controlled  the  whole  coun- 
try, and  that  they  had  restored  the  power  and  prestige 
of  the  Pharaoh's  office.  Its  relation  to  the  local  lords  and 
nomarchs  we  shall  soon  be  able  to  discern  more  clearly,  as 
the  Theban  family  known  as  the  Twelfth  Dynasty  presently 
emerges  into  view. 

The  forces  of  expansion,  latent  for  several  centuries,  now 
found  opportunity  in  Nubia  again,  as  in  the  Sixth  Dy- 

1 1,  434-453. 


DECLINE  OF  NORTH  AND  RISE  OF  THEBES  153 


nasty,  before  the  fall  of  the  Old  Kingdom.  Nibhepetre- 
Mentuhotep  IV  was  so  fully  in  control  of  the  country 
that  he  could  resume  the  designs  of  the  Sixth  Dynasty 
for  the  conquest  of  Nubia,  and  dispatched  his  treasurer 
Kheti  with  a  fleet  into  Wawat1  in  his  forty-first  year. 
Building  enterprises,  so  long  interrupted,  were  again  under- 
taken, and  on  the  western  plain  of  Thebes  Mentuhotep  IV 
erected  a  small  terraced  temple  under  the  cliffs,  which  after- 
ward served  as  the  model  for  queen  Hatshepsut's  beautiful 
sanctuary  beside  it  at  Der  el-Bahri.  Its  ruins,  recently  dis- 
covered, constitute  the  oldest  building  at  Thebes.  It  was 
evidently  of  mortuary  character,  and  the  reliefs  on  the  walls 
depicted  foreign  peoples  bringing  tribute  to  the  Pharaoh. 
Mentuhotep  IV 's  long  reign  of  at  least  forty  six  years  gave 
him  ample  opportunity  to  solidify  and  organize  his  power, 
and  he  was  regarded  in  after  centuries  as  the  great  founder 
and  establisher  of  Theban  supremacy.  His  successor,  Men- 
tuhotep V,  was  also  able  to  continue  the  long  interrupted 
foreign  enterprises  of  the  Old  Kingdom  Pharaohs.  He 
united  the  responsibility  for  all  commerce  with  the  southern 
countries,  in  the  hands  of  a  powerful  official,  already  exist- 
ent in  the  Sixth  Dynasty,  under  the  old  title  4 'keeper  of  the 
Door  of  the  South.' '  Mentuhotep  V's  chief  treasurer. 
Henu,  who  bore  this  important  office,  was  dispatched  to  the 
Red  Sea  by  the  Hammamat  road  with  a  following  of  three 
thousand  men.  Such  was  the  efficiency  of  his  organization 
that  each  man  received  two  jars  of  water  and  twenty  small 
biscuit-like  loaves  daily,  involving  the  issuance  of  six  thou- 
sand jars  of  water  and  sixty  thousand  such  loaves  by  the 
commissary  every  day2  during  the  desert  march  and  the  stay 
in  the  quarries  of  Hammamat.  Everything  possible  was 
done  to  make  the  desert  route  thither  safe  and  passable. 
Henu  dug  fifteen  wells  and  cisterns,3  and  settlements  of  colo- 
nists were  afterward  established  at  the  watering  stations.4 
Arriving  at  the  Red  Sea  end  of  the  route,  Henu  built  a  ship 
which  he  dispatched  to  Punt,  while  he  himself  returned  by 

'I,  426.  »I,  430.  8 1,  431.  *  1,  45b. 


154 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


way  of  Hammainat,  where  he  secured  and  brought  back  with 
him  fine  blocks  for  the  statues  in  the  royal  temples.1  Men- 
tuhotep  V  ruled  at  least  eight  years.2 

After  this  succession  of  five  Mentuhoteps,  we  find  that 
the  Eleventh  Dynasty  was  then  displaced  by  a  new  and 
vigourous  Theban  family  with  an  Amenemhet  at  its  head< 
We  have  already  seen  one  powerful  Amenemhet  at  Thebes 
as  the  vizier  of  Mentuhotep  III.  This  new  Amenemhet  was 
able  to  supplant  the  last  son  of  the  Eleventh  Dynasty,  and 
assume  the  throne  as  first  king  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty. 
It  is  very  probable  also  that  the  new  king  had  royal  blood 
in  his  veins;  in  any  case  his  family  always  regarded  the 
nomarch  Intef  as  their  ancestor ;  they  paid  him  honour  and 
placcc  his  statue  in  the  Karnak  temple  of  Thebes.3  After 
a  rule  of  a  little  over  one  hundred  and  sixty  years4  the 
Eleventh  Dynasty  was  thus  brought  to  a  close  about  2000 
B.  C.  They  left  few  monuments ;  their  modest  pyramids  of 
sun-dried  brick  on  the  western  plain  of  Thebes  were  in  a 
perfect  state  of  preservation  a  thousand  years  later,5  but 
they  barely  survived  into  modern  times  and  their  vanish- 
ing remains  were  excavated  by  Mariette.  Nevertheless  they 
laid  the  foundations  of  Theban  power  and  prepared  the 
way  for  the  vigourous  development  which  now  followed 
under  their  successors. 

It  was  not  without  hostilities  that  Amenemhet  gained  his  ex- 
alted station.  We  hear  of  a  campaign  on  the  Nile  with  a  fleet 
of  twenty  ships  of  cedar,6  followed  by  the  expulsion  of  some 
unknown  enemy  from  Egypt.  Victorious  in  these  conflicts, 
Amenemhet  was  confronted  by  a  situation  of  the  greatest 
difficulty.  Everywhere  the  local  nobles,  the  nomarchs  whose 
gradual  rise  we  witnessed  in  the  Old  Kingdom,  were  now 
ruling  their  great  domains  like  independent  sovereigns. 
They  looked  back  upon  a  long  line  of  ancestry  reaching 
into  the  generations  of  their  fathers,  whose  power  had  caused 
the  fall  of  the  Old  Kingdom;  and  we  find  them  repairing 

1  I,  432-433.  »I,  418.  'I,  419. 

1  i.  418.  6 IV,  514.  6  J.  4G5. 


DECLINE  OF  NORTH  AND  RISE  OF  THEBES 


the  fallen  tombs  of  these  founders  of  their  houses/  While 
the  Eleventh  Dynasty  kings  had  evidently  curbed  these  am- 
bitious lords  to  some  extent,  Amenemhet  was  obliged  to  go 
about  the  country  and  lay  a  strong  hand  upon  them  one 
after  another.  Here  and  there  some  aggressive  nomarch 
had  seized  the  territory  and  towns  of  a  neighbour,  thus  gain- 
ing dangerous  power  and  wealth.  It  was  necessary  for  the 
safety  of  the  crown  in  such  cases  to  restore  the  balance  of 
power.  "He  established  the  southern  landmark,  perpet- 
uating the  northern  like  the  heavens; 4 he  divided  the  great 
river  along  its  middle;  its  eastern  side  of  the  1 Horizon  of 
Horns'  was  as  far  as  the  eastern  highland;  at  the  coming 
of  his  majesty  to  cast  out  evil  shining  like  Atum  himself ; 
when  he  restored  that  which  he  found  ruined ;  that  which  a 
city  had  taken  from  its  neighbour;  while  he  caused  city  to 
know  its  boundary  with  city,  establishing  their  landmarks 
like  the  heavens,  distinguishing  their  waters  according  to 
that  which  was  in  the  writings,  investigating  according  to 
that  which  was  of  old,  because  he  so  greatly  loved  justice.' '2 
Thus  the  nomarch  of  the  Oryx-nome  relates  how  Amenemhet 
proceeded  at  the  installation  of  his  grandfather  as  nomarch 
there. 

To  suppress  the  landed  nobles  entirely  and  to  reestablish 
the  bureaucratic  state  of  the  Old  Kingdom,  with  its  local  gov- 
ernors, was  however  quite  impossible.  The  development 
which  had  become  so  evident  in  the  Fifth  Dynasty  had  now 
reached  its  logical  issue;  Amenemhet  could  only  accept  the 
situation  and  deal  with  it  as  best  he  might.  He  had  achieved 
the  conquest  of  the  country  and  its  reorganization  only  by 
skilfully  employing  in  his  cause  those  noble  families  whom 
he  could  win  by  favour  and  fair  promises.  With  these  he  must 
now  reckon,  and  we  see  him  rewarding  Khnumhotep,  one 
of  his  partisans,  with  the  gift  of  the  Oryx-nome,  the  boun- 
daries of  a  part  of  which  he  established  as  we  have  already 
learned  from  the  above  record  in  a  famous  tomb3  of  the 
family  at  Benihasan.    The  utmost  that  Amenemhet  could 

ll,  688-9.  aI,  625.  » I,  619-639. 


156 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


accomplish,  therefore,  was  the  appointment  in  the  nomes  of 
nobles  favourably  inclined  toward  his  house.  The  state 
which  the  unprecedented  vigour  and  skill  of  this  great  states- 
man finally  succeeded  in  thus  erecting,  again  furnished 
Egypt  with  the  stable  organization,  which  enabled  her  about 
2000  B.  C.  to  enter  upon  her  second  great  period  of  produc- 
tive development,  the  Middle  Kingdom. 


CHAPTER  IX 


THE  MIDDLE  KINGDOM  OR  THE  FEUDAL  AGE:  STATE, 
SOCIETY  AND  RELIGION. 

It  had  been  but  natural  that  the  kings  of  the  Eleventh 
Dynasty  should  reside  at  Thebes,  where  the  founders  of  the 
family  had  lived  during  the  long  war  for  the  conquest  of 
the  North.  But  Amenemhet  was  evidently  unable  to  con- 
tinue this  tradition.  It  is  easy  to  imagine  reasons  why  he 
concluded  that  his  presence  was  necessary  to  maintain  his 
position  among  the  Northern  nomarchs,  who  may  still  have 
felt  leanings  toward  the  fallen  house  of  Heracleopolis. 
Moreover  all  the  kings  of  Egypt  since  the  passing  of  the 
Thinites  a  thousand  years  before  had  lived  there,  except  the 
Eleventh  Dynasty  which  he  had  supplanted.  The  location 
which  he  selected  was  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  some 
miles  south  of  Memphis.  The  exact  spot  cannot  now  be  iden- 
tified, but  it  was  probably  near  the  place  now  called  Lisht, 
where  the  ruined  pyramid  of  Amenemhet  has  been  discov- 
ered. The  name  given  to  the  residence  city  was  signifi- 
cant of  its  purpose;  Amenemhet  named  it  Ithtowe,  which 
means  "Captor  of  the  Two  Lands.' '  In  hieroglyphic  the 
name  is  always  written  enclosed  within  a  square  fortress 
with  battlemented  walls;  from  this  stronghold  Amenemhet 
swayed  the  destinies  of  a  state  which  required  all  the  skill 
and  political  sagacity  of  a  line  of  unusually  strong  rulers 
in  order  to  maintain  the  prestige  of  the  royal  house. 

The  nation  was  made  up  of  an  aggregation  of  small  states 
or  petty  princedoms,  the  heads  of  which  owed  the  Pharaoh 
their  loyalty,  but  they  were  not  his  officials  or  his  servants. 
Some  of  these  local  nobles  were  "great  lords"  or  nomarchs, 
ruling  a  whole  nome ;  others  were  only  ' 1  counts ' '  of  a  smaller 

157 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


domain  with  its  fortified  town.  It  was  thus  a  feudal  state 
not  essentially  different  from  that  of  later  Europe  which 
Amenemhet  had  organized.  It  was  a  state  which  could  exist 
only  as  long  as  there  was  a  strong  man  like  himself  in  the 
palace  at  Ithtowe;  and  the  slightest  evidence  of  weakness 
meant  its  rapid  dissolution.  We  are  dependent  for  our 
knowledge  of  these  barons  upon  their  surviving  tombs  and 
mortuary  monuments.  All  such  remains  in  the  Delta  have 
perished,  so  that  we  can  speak  with  certainty  only  of  the 
conditions  in  the  South,  and  even  here  it  is  only  in  Middle 
Egypt  that  we  are  adequately  informed. 

The  noble  families  of  the  provincial  aristocracy,  as  we 
have  seen,  could  in  some  cases  look  back  upon  a  line  of  an- 
cestry reaching  into  the  Old  Kingdom,  four  or  five  centuries 
earlier  ;x  they  had  thus  gained  a  strong  foothold  in  their  bar- 


Fig.  79.    Offices  of  the  Nomarch  Khnumhotep  at  Benihasan. 

On  the  left  is  the  chief  treasurer  before  whom  gold  and  silver  are  being 
weighed;  in  the  middle  is  the  steward  of  the  estate,  who  records  the  amount 
of  grain  brought  in  and  deposited  in  the  granary  on  the  right. 


onies  and  domains.  We  recall  also  that  under  the  weak 
Pharaohs  of  the  decadence  following  the  Old  Kingdom  they 
had  ruled  as  almost  independent  dynasts,  dating  events  in 
years  of  their  own  rule  and  no  longer  in  those  of  the  reign 
of  the  Pharaoh,  whom  in  some  cases  they  had  defied  and 
even  successfully  resisted.2  The  nomarch  had  indeed  be- 
come a  miniature  Pharaoh  in  his  little  realm,  and  such  he 
continued  to  be  under  the  Twelfth  Dynasty.  On  a  less 
sumptuous  scale  his  residence  was  surrounded  by  a  personnel 
not  unlike  that  of  the  Pharaonic  court  and  harem ;  while  his 
government  demanded  a  chief  treasurer,  a  court  of  justice, 

»I,  688-9.  8 1,  690. 


MIDDLE  KINGDOM  OR  THE  FEUDAL  AGE  159 


with  offices  (Fig.  79),  scribes  and  functionaries,  and  all  the 
essential  machinery  of  government  which  we  find  at  the 
royal  residence.  The  nomarch  by  means  of  this  organiza- 
tion himself  collected  the  revenues  of  his  domain,  was  high 
priest  or  head  of  the  sacerdotal  organization,  and  com- 
manded the  militia  of  his  realm  which  was  permanently 
organized.  His  power  was  considerable ;  the  nomarch  of  the 
Oryx-nome  led  four  hundred  of  his  own  troops  into  Nubia 
and  six  hundred  through  the  desert  to  the  gold  mines  on  the 
Coptos  road.1    The  nomarch  at  Coptos  was  able  to  send  an 


Fig.  80.    A  Colossus  of  Alabaster  about  Twenty-two  Feet  High  Tbans- 

POBTED  ON  A  SLEDGE  BY  172  MEN  IN  FOUB  DOUBLE  LlNES  AT  THE 

Ropes.     (From  a  Middle  Kingdom  Tomb  at  El  Bersheh.) 


expedition  of  his  own  to  the  Hammamat  quarries  which 
brought  back  two  blocks  seventeen  feet  long,  and  a  second 
expedition  which  returned  with  a  block  twenty  feet  six  inches 
long  drawn  by  nearly  two  hundred  men  along  the  desert  road 
over  fifty  miles  to  the  Nile.2  The  people  of  the  nomarch  of  the 
Hare-nome  dragged  from  the  quarry  of  Hatnub  ten  miles  to 
the  river  a  huge  block  of  alabaster  weighing  over  sixty  tons 
and  large  enough  for  a  statue  of  the  nomarch  some  twenty 
two  feet  high.     Such  lords  were  able  to  build  temples 4  and 


1I,  520-521. 
3  1,  S94-706. 


2  I,  p.  225,  note  c. 

<I,  403;  637,  and  note  a. 


160 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


erect  public  buildings  in  their  principal  towns.1  They  taught 
the  crafts  and  encouraged  industries  and  their  immediate 
interest  and  direct  personal  oversight  resulted  in  a  period  of 
unprecedented  economic  development.2  One  of  the  Siut 
nomarchs  of  the  Heracleopolitan  domination  furnishes  a  hint 
of  what  was  to  follow,  saying :  * '  I  was  rich  in  grain.  When 
the  land  was  in  need  I  maintained  the  city  with  kha  and 
heket  [grain-measures],  I  allowed  the  citizen  to  fetch  for 
himself  grain;  and  his  wife,  the  widow  and  her  son.  I 
remitted  all  imposts  [unpaid  arrears]  which  I  found  counted 
by  my  fathers.  I  filled  the  pastures  with  cattle,  every  man 
had  many  breeds,  the  cows  brought  forth  twofold,  the  folds 
were  full  of  calves. '  '3  A  new  irrigation  canal  which  he  made 
doubtless  contributed  much  to  the  productivity  of  his  do- 
mains.4 Faithful  officials  of  the  nomarch  show  the  same 
solicitude  for  the  welfare  of  the  community  over  which  they 
were  placed ;  thus  an  assistant  treasurer  in  the  Theban  nome 
residing  at  Gebelen  in  the  Eleventh  Dynasty  tells  us:  "I 
sustained  Gebelen  during  unfruitful  years,  there  being  four 
hundred  men  in  distress.  But  I  took  not  the  daughter  of 
a  man,  I  took  not  his  field.  I  made  ten  herds  of  goats,  with 
people  in  charge  of  each  herd;  I  made  two  herds  of  cattle 
and  a  herd  of  asses.  I  raised  all  kinds  of  small  cattle.  I 
made  thirty  ships,  then  thirty  more  ships,  and  I  brought 
grain  for  Esneh  and  Tuphium,  after  Gebelen  was  sustained. 
The  nome  of  Thebes  went  up  stream  [to  Gebelen  for  sup- 
plies]. Never  did  Gebelen  send  up-stream  or  down-stream 
to  another  district  [for  supplies]."5  The  nomarch  thus 
devoted  himself  to  the  interests  of  his  people,  and  was  con- 
cerned to  leave  to  posterity  a  reputation  as  a  merciful  and 
beneficent  ruler.  All  the  above  records  are  taken  from  tomb- 
inscriptions,  records  designed  to  perpetuate  such  a  memory 
among  the  people.  Still  more  positive  in  the  same  direc- 
tion is  a  passage  in  the  biography  of  Ameni,  nomarch  of  the 
Oryx-nome,  as  inscribed  in  his  tomb  at  Benihasan:  1 '  There 

»I,  637.  2I,  638.  31,  408.  «I,  407.  6 1,  459. 


MIDDLE  KINGDOM  OR  THE  FEUDAL  AGE  161 


was  no  citizen's  daughter  whom  I  misused,  there  was  no 
widow  whom  I  oppressed,  there  was  no  peasant  whom  I  re- 
pulsed, there  was  no  herdsman  whom  I  repelled,  there  was  no 
overseer  of  serf-labourers,  whose  people  I  took  for  [unpaid] 
imposts,  there  was  none  wretched  in  my  community,  there 
was  none  hungry  in  my  time.  When  years  of  famine  came 
I  ploughed  all  the  fields  of  the  Oryx-nome,  as  far  as  its 
southern  and  northern  boundary,  preserving  its  people  alive, 
and  furnishing  its  food,  so  that  there  was  none  hungry 
therein.  I  gave  to  the  widow  as  to  her  who  had  a  husband ; 
I  did  not  exalt  the  great  above  the  small  in  all  I  gave. 
Then  came  great  Niles,  rich  in  grain  and  all  things,  but  I  did 
not  collect  the  arrears  of  the  field.,,1  After  making  all  due 
allowance  for  the  natural  desire  of  the  nomarch  to  record 
the  most  favourable  aspects  of  his  government,  it  is  evident 
that  the  paternal  character  of  his  local  and  personal  rule,  in 
a  community  of  limited  numbers,  with  which  he  was  ac- 
quainted by  almost  daily  contact,  had  proved  an  untold  bless- 
ing to  the  country  and  population  at  large. 

The  domains  over  which  the  nomarch  thus  ruled  were  not 
all .  his  unqualified  possessions.  His  wealth  consisted  of 
lands  and  revenues  of  two  classes:  the  "paternal  estate, " 
received  from  his  ancestors  and  entailed  in  his  line ;  and  the 
"count's  estate,"2  over  which  the  dead  hand  had  no  control; 
it  was  conveyed  as  a  fief  by  the  Pharaoh  anew  at  the 
nomarch 's  death.  It  was  this  fact  which  to  some  extent 
enabled  the  Pharaoh  to  control  the  feudatories  and  to  secure 
the  appointment  of  partisans  of  his  house  throughout  the 
country.  Nevertheless  he  could  not  ignore  the  natural  line  of 
succession,  which  was  through  the  eldest  daughter;  and  as 
we  have  observed  at  Siut,  she  might  even  rule  the  domain 
after  the  death  of  her  father  until  her  son  was  old  enough 
to  assume  its  government.3  The  magnificent  tombs  of  the 
lords  of  the  Oryx-nome  at  Benihasan  reveal  very  clearly  the 
influence  of  these  customs  in  the  fortunes  of  this  family.  At 
the  triumph  of  Amenemhet  I,  as  we  have  seen,  he  appointed 

1 1,  523.  2 536.  a  I,  414. 

11 


162 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


one  of  his  partisans,  a  certain  Khnumhotep,  as  count  of 
Menet-Khufu,  chief  city  of  the  "Horizon  of  Horus,"  an 
appanage  of  the  Oryx-nome,  to  which  Khnumhotep  also  soon 
succeeded  as  nomarch.  As  a  special  favour  of  Sesostris  I, 
after  Amenemhet  I's  death,  Khnumhotep 's  two  sons  inher- 
ited their  father's  fiefs,  Nakht  being  appointed  count  of 
Menet-Khufu,  and  Ameni,  of  whose  beneficent  rule  we  have 
just  read,  receiving  the  Oryx-nome.  Their  sister  Beket 
married  a  powerful  official  at  the  court,  the  vizier  and  gov- 
ernor of  the  residence-city,  Nehri,  who  was  nomarch  of  the 
neighbouring  Hare-nome ;  and  the  son  of  this  union,  a  second 
Khnumhotep,  thereupon  by  succession  through  his  mother, 
was  appointed  to  succeed  his  uncle  Nakht  as  count  of  Menet- 
Khufu.  Observing  the  value  in  the  Pharaoh 's  eyes  of  being 
the  son  of  a  nomarch 's  daughter,  this  second  Khnumhotep 
himself  married  Kheti,  the  eldest  daughter  of  his  neighbour 
on  the  north,  the  nomarch  of  the  Jackal-nome.  Thus  the 
eldest  son  of  Khnumhotep  the  second  had  a  claim  through 
his  mother  upon  the  Jackal-nome,  to  which  in  due  course 
the  Pharaoh  appointed  him ;  while  the  second  son  of  the  mar- 
riage, after  honours  at  court,  received  his  father's  fief  of 
Menet-Khufu.1  The  history  of  this  line  through  four  gen- 
erations thus  shows  that  the  Pharaoh  could  not  overlook  the 
claims  of  the  heir  of  a  powerful  family,  and  the  deference 
which  he  showed  them  evidently  limited  the  control  which 
he  might  exert  over  a  less  formidable  dynasty  of  nobles. 

To  what  extent  these  lords  felt  the  restraint  of  the  royal 
hand  in  their  government  and  administration  it  is  not  now 
possible  to  determine.  A  royal  commissioner,  whose  duty 
it  was  to  look  to  the  interests  of  the  Pharaoh,  seems  to 
have  resided  in  the  nome,  and  there  were  "overseers  of  the 
crown-possessions"  (probably  under  him)  in  charge  of  the 
royal  herds  in  each  nome  ;2  but  the  nomarch  himself  was  the 
medium  through  whom  all  revenues  from  the  nome  were  con- 
veyed to  the  treasury.  "All  the  imposts  of  the  king's  house 
passed  through  my  hand,"  says  Ameni  of  the  Oryx-nome. 

1I,  619  ff.  2 1,  522. 


MIDDLE  KINGDOM  OR  THE  FEUDAL  AGE  163 


The  treasury  was  the  organ  of  the  central  government,  which 
gave  administrative  cohesion  to  the  otherwise  loose  aggre- 
gation of  nomarchies.  It  had  its  income  paying  property 
in  all  the  nomes.  Some  of  this  property,  as  we  have  ob- 
served, seems  to  have  been  administered  by  government 
overseers,  while  to  a  large  extent  it  was  entrusted  to  the 
noble,  probably  as  part  of  the  ' '  count 's  estate. ' '  The  ' '  gang- 
overseers  of  the  crown  possessions  of  the  Oryx-nome"  gave 
to  Ameni  three  thousand  bulls,  of  which  he  rendered  an 
annual  account  to  the  Pharaoh,  saying,  "I  was  praised  on 
account  of  it  in  the  palace  [of  the  Pharaoh].  I  carried  all 
their  dues  to  the  king 's  house ;  there  were  no  arrears  against 
me  in  any  office  of  his."1  Thuthotep,  the  nomarch  of  the 
Hare-nome,  depicted  with  great  pride  in  his  tomb  at  EJ 
Bersheh  "  great  numbers  of  his  cattle  from  the  king  and  his 
cattle  of  the  [paternal]  estate  in  the  districts  of  the  Hare- 
nome.  '  '2  We  have  no  means  of  even  conjecturing  the  amount 
or  proportion  of  property  held  by  the  crown  in  the  nomes 
and  " count's  estates,"  but  it  is  evident  that  the  claims  of 
these  powerful  feudatories  must  have  seriously  curtailed  the 
traditional  revenues  of  the  Pharaoh.  He  no  longer  had  the 
resources  of  the  country  at  his  unconditional  disposal  as  in 
the  Old  Kingdom,  even  though  it  was  officially  only  by  the 
king's  grace  that  his  lords  held  their  fiefs.  Other  resources 
of  the  treasury  were,  however,  now  available,  and  if  not  en- 
tirely new,  were  henceforth  more  energetically  exploited. 
Besides  his  internal  revenues,  including  the  tribute  of  the 
nomes  and  the  Residence,  the  Pharaoh  received  a  regular 
income  from  the  gold-mines  of  Nubia,  and  those  on  the 
Coptos  road  to  the  Red  Sea.  The  traffic  with  Punt  and  the 
southern  coasts  of  the  Red  Sea  seems  to  have  been  the  exclu- 
sive prerogative  of  the  crown,  and  must  have  brought  in  a 
considerable  return ;  while  the  mines  and  quarries  of  Sinai, 
and  perhaps  also  the  quarries  of  Hammamat,  had  also  been 
developed  as  a  regular  source  of  profit.  The  conquest  of 
Nubia,  and  now  and  then  a  plundering  expedition  into  Syria- 

*I.  522.  2i,  522,  note  a. 


164 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Palestine,  also  furnished  not  unwelcome  contributions  to 
the  treasury. 

The  central  office  of  the  treasury  was  still  the  "  White 
House, "  which  through  its  sub-departments  of  the  granary, 
the  herds,  the  " double  gold-house, ' '  the  "double  silver- 
house,"  and  other  produce  of  the  country,  collected  into 
the  central  magazines  and  stock-yards  the  annual  revenues 
due  the  Pharaoh.  Whole  fleets  of  transports 1  upon  the  river 
were  necessary  for  the  conveyance  of  the  great  quantities 
of  commodities  involved.  The  head  of  the  "White  House" 
was  as  before,  the  chief  treasurer,  with  his  assistant,  the 
"treasurer  of  the  God,"  and  the  vigourous  administration 
of  the  time  is  evident  in  the  frequent  records  of  these  active 
officials,  showing  that  notwithstanding  their  rank,  they  often 
personally  superintended  the  king 's  interests  in  Sinai,  Ham- 
mamat,  or  on  the  shores  of  the  Red  Sea  at  the  terminus  of 
the  Coptos  road.  It  is  evident  that  the  treasury  had  become 
a  more  highly  developed  organ  since  the  Old  Kingdom.  The 
army  of  subordinates,  stewards,  overseers  and  scribes  filling 
the  offices  under  the  heads  of  sub-departments  was  obviously 
larger  than  before.  They  began  to  display  an  array  of 
titles,  of  which  many  successive  ranks,  heretofore  unknown, 
were  being  gradually  differentiated.  Among  these  appear 
more  prominently  than  heretofore  the  engineers  and  skilled 
artisans  who  were  exploiting  the  mines  and  quarries  under 
the  administrative  officials.  Such  conditions  made  possible 
the  rise  of  an  official  middle  class. 

Justice,  as  in  the  Old  Kingdom,  was  still  dispensed  by 
the  administrative  officials ;  thus  a  treasurer  of  the  god  boasts 
that  he  was  one  "knowing  the  law,  discreet  in  exercising 
it."2  The  six  "Great  Houses"  or  courts  of  justice,  with 
the  vizier  at  their  head,  sat  in  Ithtowe.3  There  was  besides 
a  "House  of  Thirty,"  which  evidently  possessed  judicial 
functions,  and  was  also  presided  over  by  the  vizier,  but  its 
relation  to  the  six  * '  Great  Houses ' '  is  not  clear.    There  was 


1  Tombstone  of  a  commander  of  one  of  these  fleets,  Cairo,  No.  20,143. 
2 1,  618.  'Sharpe,  Eg.  Inscr.  I,  100. 


MIDDLE  KINGDOM  OR  THE  FEUDAL  AGE  .  165 


now  more  than  one  ' '  Southern  Ten, ' '  and  ' '  Magnates  of  the 
Southern  Tens"  were  frequently  entrusted  with  various 
executive  and  administrative  commissions  by  the  king.  As 
we  shall  see,  they  had  the  census  and  tax  records  in  charge ; 
but  their  connection  with  the  judicial  administration  cannot 
be  determined  with  clearness.  Magistrates  with  the  sole 
title  of  *  'judge, "  whose  tomb-stones  are  occasionally  found, 
may  have  been  well-to-do  middle  class  citizens  who  assumed 
judicial  functions  within  a  restricted  local  jurisdiction.  The 
law  which  they  administered,  while  it  has  not  survived,  had 
certainly  attained  a  high  development,  and  was  capable  of 
the  finest  distinctions.  A  nomarch  at  Siut  makes  a  contract 
between  himself  as  count,  and  himself  as  high  priest  in  the 
temple  of  his  city,  showing  the  closest  differentiation  of  the 
rights  which  he  possessed  in  these  two  different  capacities.1 
The  scanty  records  of  the  time  throw  but  little  light  upon 
the  other  organs  of  government,  like  the  administration  of 
lands,  the  system  of  irrigation  and  the  like.  For  the  pur- 
pose of  carrying  on  public  works,  as  well  as  for  taxation  and 
census  records,  the  country  was  divided  into  two  adminis- 
trative districts  of  the  South  and  the  North,  and  the  "  Mag- 
nates of  the  Southern  Tens"  served  in  both  districts,  showing 
that  they  were  not  confined  to  the  South  alone.  The  office 
of  the  governor  of  the  South  had  disappeared,  and  already 
before  the  close  of  the  Old  Kingdom  the  title  had  become 
merely  an  honourable  predicate,  if  used  at  all.  An  elaborate 
system  of  registration  was  in  force.  Every  head  of  a  family 
was  enrolled  as  soon  as  he  had  established  an  indepen- 
dent household,  with  all  the  members  belonging  to  it,  includ- 
ing serfs  and  slaves.  His  oath  to  the  correctness  of  the 
registration-list  was  taken  by  a  "Magnate  of  the  Southern 
Tens"  in  the  land-office,  one  of  the  bureaus  of  the  vizier's 
department,  where  all  this  registration  was  filed.  These 
enrollments  probably  occurred  at  fixed  intervals  of  some 
years  and  there  are  some  indications  that  the  period  may 

4 1,  568  ff. 


166 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


have  been  fifteen  years.1  The  office  of  the  vizier  was  thus 
the  central  archives  of  the  government  as  before,  and  all 
records  of  the  land-administration  with  census  and  tax  reg- 
istration were  filed  in  his  bureaus.  Thus  he  calls  himself 
one  ' '  confirming  the  boundary  records,  separating  a  land- 
owner from  his  neighbour. '  '2  As  formerly,  he  was  also  head 
of  the  judicial  administration,  presiding  over  the  six  "  Great 
Houses''  and  the  " House  of  Thirty";  and  when  he  also  held 
the  office  of  chief  treasurer,  as  did  the  powerful  vizier  Men- 
tuhotep  under  Sesostris  I,  the  account  which  he  could  give  of 
himself  on  his  tomb-stone  read  like  the  declaration  of  a  king's 
powers.3  That  he  might  prove  dangerous  to  the  crown  was 
evident  in  the  history  of  Amenemhet  I's  probable  rise  from 
the  viziership.  His  high  office  brought  with  it  the  rank  of 
prince  and  count  and  in  some  instances  he  ruled  a  nome. 

It  was  now  more  necessary  than  ever  that  the  machinery 
of  government  should  be  in  the  hands  of  men  of  unques- 
tioned loyalty.  Young  men  were  brought  up  in  the  circle 
of  the  king's  house  that  they  might  grow  up  in  attachment 
to  it.  Thus  Sesostris  III  wrote  entrusting  a  commission  to 
his  chief  treasurer,  Ikhernofret:  "My  majesty  sendeth  thee, 
my  heart  being  certain  of  thy  doing  everything  according 
to  the  desire  of  my  majesty;  since  thou  hast  been  brought 
up  in  the  teaching  of  my  majesty;  thou  hast  been  in  the 
training  of  my  majesty  and  the  sole  teaching  of  my  palace." 4 
Even  then  the  closest  surveillance  was  constantly  necessary 
to  ensure  the  king's  safety  and  prevent  the  ambitious  noble 
in  the  Pharaoh's  service  from  gaining  dangerous  power. 
We  shall  discover  the  officials  of  Amenemhet  I  abusing  his 
confidence  and  attempting  his  life;  in  far  off  Nubia  Men- 
tuhotep,  Sesostris  I 's  commander  there,  like  Cornelius  Gallus 
under  Augustus,  made  himself  so  prominent  upon  the  tri- 
umphal monuments  of  the  king  that  his  figure  had  to  be 
erased,  and  in  all  likelihood  the  noble  himself  was  dismissed 
in  disgrace.5    Discreet  conduct  toward  the  Pharaoh  was  the 

1  Kahun  Papyri,  pi.  IX-X,  pp.  19-29. 

aI,  531.  3 1,  530-534.  *  I,  665.  6  I,  514. 


MIDDLE  KINGDOM  OR  THE  FEUDAL  AGE  167 


condition  of  a  career,  and  the  wise  praise  him  who  knows 
how  to  be  silent  in  the  king's  service.1  Sehetepibre,  a  mag- 
nate of  Amenemhet  Ill's  court,  left  upon  his  tomb-stone  an 
exhortation  to  his  children  that  they  serve  the  king  with 
faithfulness,  saying  among  many  other  things:  " Fight  for 
his  name,  purify  yourselves  by  his  oath,  and  ye  shall  be  free 
from  trouble.  The  beloved  of  the  king  shall  be  blessed ;  but 
there  is  no  tomb  for  one  hostile  to  his  majesty;  and  his  body 
shall  be  thrown  to  the  waters." 2 

Under  such  conditions  the  Pharaoh  could  not  but  surround 
himself  with  the  necessary  power  to  enforce  his  will  when 
obliged  to  do  so.  A  class  of  military  "attendants"  or  liter- 
ally "followers  of  his  majesty"  therefore  arose.  They  were 
professional  soldiers,  the  first  of  whom  we  have  any  knowl- 
edge in  ancient  Egypt.  In  companies  of  a  hundred  men 
each  they  garrisoned  the  palace  and  the  strongholds  of  the 
royal  house  from  Nubia  to  the  Asiatic  frontier.  How  numer- 
ous they  may  have  been,  it  is  now  impossible  to  determine. 
They  formed  at  least  the  nucleus  of  a  standing  army, 
although  it  is  evident  that  they  were  not  as  yet  in  sufficient 
numbers  to  be  dignified  by  this  term.  Whence  they  were 
drawn  is  also  uncertain,  but  their  commanders  at  least  were 
of  higher  birth  than  the  middle  class.  We  shall  find  them 
as  the  most  prominent  force  in  all  the  Pharaoh 's  wars,  espe- 
cially in  Nubia,  and  also  in  charge  of  royal  expeditions  to 
the  mines,  quarries  and  Red  Sea  ports.  Nevertheless  the 
great  mass  of  the  army  employed  by  the  Pharaoh  at  this 
time  was  composed  of  the  free  born  citizens  of  the  middle 
class,  forming  the  militia  or  the  permanent  force  of  the 
nomarch,  who  at  the  king's  summons  placed  himself  at  their 
head  and  led  them  in  the  wars  of  his  liege-lord.  The  army 
in  time  of  war  was  therefore  made  up  of  contingents  fur- 
nished and  commanded  by  the  feudatories.  In  peace  they 
were  also  frequently  drawn  upon  to  furnish  the  intelligent 
power  applied  to  the  transportation  of  great  monuments  or 
employed  in  the  execution  of  public  works.    All  free  citizens, 

1 1,  532.  2  I,  748. 


168 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


whether  priests  or  not,  were  organized  and  enrolled  in  "gen- 
erations, ' '  a  term  designating  the  different  classes  of  youth, 
which  were  to  become  successively  liable  to  draught  for  mili- 
tary or  public  service.  As  in  the  Old  Kingdom,  war  con- 
tinues to  be  little  more  than  a  series  of  loosely  organized 
predatory  expeditions,  the  records  of  which  clearly  display 
the  still  unwarlike  character  of  the  Egyptian. 

The  detachment  of  the  nobles  from  the  court  since  the 
Sixth  Dynasty  had  resulted  in  the  rise  of  a  provincial  so- 
ciety, of  which  we  gain  glimpses  especially  at  Elephantine, 
Bersheh,  Benihasan  and  Siut,  where  the  tombs  of  the  nom- 
archs  are  still  preserved,  and  at  Abydos,  where  all  other 
classes  now  desired  to  be  buried  or  to  erect  a  memorial  stone. 
The  life  of  the  nobles  therefore  no  longer  centred  in  the 
court,  and  the  aristocracy  of  the  time,  being  scattered 
throughout  the  country,  took  on  local  forms.  The  nomarch, 
with  his  large  family  circle,  his  social  pleasures,  his  hunting 
and  his  sports,  is  an  interesting  and  picturesque  figure  of 
the  country  nobleman,  with  whom  we  would  gladly  tarry  if 
space  permitted.  Characteristic  of  this  age  is  the  promi- 
nence of  the  middle  class.  To  some  extent  this  prominence 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  a  tomb,  a  tomb-stone  and  mortuary 
equipment  have  become  a  necessity  also  for  a  large  propor- 
tion of  this  class,  who  felt  no  such  necessity  and  left  no  such 
memorial  of  their  existence  in  the  Old  Kingdom.  In  the 
cemetery  at  Abydos,  among  nearly  eight  hundred  men  of  the 
time  buried  there,  one  in  four  bore  no  title  either  of  office  or 
of  rank.1  They  sometimes  designate  themselves  as  "citi- 
zens of  the  town,"2  but  ordinarily  the  name  stands  alone 
on  the  tomb-stone,  with  no  hint  of  the  owner 's  station.  Some 
of  these  men  were  tradesmen,  some  land-owners,  others  arti- 
sans and  artificers ;  but  among  them  were  men  of  wealth  and 
luxury.  In  the  Art  Institute  at  Chicago  there  is  a  fine  coffin 
belonging  to  such  an  untitled  citizen  which  he  had  made  of 
costly  cedar  imported  from  Lebanon.  To  such  we  should 
undoubtedly  add  those  who  occasionally  prefix  to  their  names 

1  Catalogue  Cairo,  Nos.  20.001-20,780.  2  Ibid,  passim. 


MIDDLE  KINGDOM  OR  THE  FEUDAL  AGE  169 


an  indication  of  their  calling,  like  "master  sandal-maker, 9 9 
"gold-smith"  or  "copper-smith,"  without  other  designa- 
tion of  their  station  in  life.  Of  the  people  bearing  titles  of 
office  on  these  Middle  Kingdom  tomb-stones  of  Abydos,  the 
vast  majority  were  small  office-holders,  displaying  no  title 
of  rank  and  undoubtedly  belonging  to  this  same  middle  class. 
The  government  service  now  offered  a  career  to  the  youth 
of  this  station  in  life;  the  assistant  treasurer,  who,  as  the 
reader  will  recall,  was  so  solicitous  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  Theban  nome  in  time  of  famine,1  expressly  refers  to 
himself  as  a  "citizen."  The  inheritance  by  the  son  of  his 
father's  calling,  already  not  uncommon  in  the  Old  Kingdom, 
was  now  general.  The  tomb-stones  of  the  time  exhort  the 
passers-by,  as  they  would  that  their  children  should  inherit 
their  offices,  to  pray  for  the  deceased.  Such  a  custom  must 
necessarily  lead  to  the  formation  of  an  official  middle  class. 
Their  ability  to  read  and  write  also  raised  them  above  those 
of  their  own  station  who  were  illiterate.  A  father  bringing 
his  son  to  be  educated  as  a  scribe  at  the  court-school  exhorts 
him  to  industry,  and  taking  up  calling  after  calling,  shows 
that  every  handicraft  abounds  in  difficulties  and  hardships ; 
while  that  of  the  scribe  alone  brings  honour,  ease  and  wealth.2 
Although  the  state  of  the  arts  shows  clearly  that  the  crafts- 
men of  the  time  were  often  men  of  the  finest  ability,  whose 
station  in  life  could  not  have  been  undesirable,  the  scribal  and 
official  middle  class  thus  looked  down  upon  them,  and  exalted 
the  calling  of  the  scribe  above  all  others.  From  this  time  on 
we  shall  find  the  scribe  constantly  glorying  in  his  knowl- 
edge and  his  station.  While  the  monuments  of  the  Old 
Kingdom  revealed  to  us  only  the  life  of  the  titled  nobility 
at  the  court  and  the  serfs  on  their  estates,  in  the  Middle 
Kingdom  we  thus  discern  a  prosperous  and  often  well-to-do 
middle  class  in  the  provinces,  sometimes  owning  their  own 
slaves  and  lands  and  bringing  their  offerings  of  first  fruits 
to  the  temple  of  the  town  as  did  the  nomarch  himself.3  The 
nomarch  showed  great  concern  for  the  welfare  of  this  class 

!See  above,  p.  160.  *Pap.  Sallier  II.  3  1,  536. 


170 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


and  the  reader  will  recall  his  gifts  of  grain  to  them  in  time 
of  famine.  One  of  them  has  left  a  short  record  of  his  pros- 
perity on  his  tomb-stone,  saying:  "I  was  one  having  goodly 
gardens  and  tall  sycamores ;  I  built  a  wide  house  in  my  city, 
and  I  excavated  a  tomb  in  my  cemetery-cliff.  I  made  a 
canal  for  my  city  and  I  ferried  [people]  over  it  in  my  boat. 
I  was  one  ready  [for  service],  leading  my  peasants  until  the 
coming  of  the  day  when  it  was  well  with  me  [day  of  death], 
when  I  gave  it  [his  wealth]  to  my  son  by  will."1  At  the 
bottom  of  the  social  scale  were  the  unnamed  serfs,  the  ' '  peas- 
ants" of  the  inscription  just  read,  the  toiling  millions  who 
produced  the  agricultural  wealth  of  the  land,— the  despised 
class  whose  labour  nevertheless  formed  the  basis  of  the  eco- 
nomic life  of  the  nation.  In  the  nomes  they  were  also  taught 
handicrafts  and  we  see  them  depicted  in  the  tombs  at  Beni- 
hasan  and  elsewhere  engaged  in  the  production  of  all  sorts 
of  handiwork.  Whether  their  output  was  solely  for  the  use 
of  the  nomarch  's  estates  or  also  on  a  large  scale  for  traffic  in 
the  markets  with  the  middle  class  throughout  the  country, 
is  entirely  uncertain. 

In  no  element  of  their  life  are  there  clearer  evidences  of 
change  and  development  than  in  the  religion  of  the  Middle 
Kingdom  Egyptians.  Here  again  we  are  in  a  new  age. 
The  official  supremacy  of  Re,  so  marked  since  the  rise  of  the 
Fifth  Dynasty,  had  continued  through  the  internal  conflicts 
which  followed  at  the  fall  of  the  Old  Kingdom  and  at  the 
rise  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty  his  triumph  was  complete.  The 
other  priesthoods,  desirous  of  securing  for  their  own,  per- 
haps purely  local  deity,  a  share  of  the  sun-god's  glory,  grad- 
ually discovered  that  their  god  was  but  a  form  and  name  of 
Re;  and  some  of  them  went  so  far  that  their  theologizing 
found  practical  expression  in  the  god's  name.  Thus,  for 
example,  the  priests  of  Sobk,  a  crocodile  god,  who  had  no 
connection  with  the  sun-god  in  the  beginning,  now  called 
him  Sobk-Re.  In  like  manner,  Amon,  hitherto  an  obscure 
local  god  of  Thebes,  who  had  attained  some  prominence  by 

»  Florence,  Stela  1774,  from  my  own  photograph. 


Fig.  81.— A  MIDDLE  KINGDOM  COFFIN  AND  MORTUARY  FURNITURE. 
Including  boats,  servants  preparing  food  and  beer,  and  a  house  (in  the  middle).     Berlin  Museum. 


Fig.  82.— MORTUARY  BOAT  OF  SESOSTRIS  III. 

From  his  pyramid  at  Dashur.     It  is  30  feet  long,  8  feet  wide,  4  feet  deep,  of  cedar  of  Lebanon.     (Field  Columbian 

Museum,  Chicago.) 


MIDDLE  KINGDOM  OR  THE  FEUDAL  AGE  171 


the  political  rise  of  the  city,  was  from  now  on  a  solar  god, 
and  was  commonly  called  by  his  priests  Amon-Re.  There 
were  in  this  movement  the  beginnings  of  a  tendency  toward 
a  pantheistic  solar  monotheism,  which  we  shall  yet  trace  to 
its  remarkable  culmination. 

While  the  temples  had  probably  somewhat  increased  in 
size,  the  official  cult  was  not  materially  altered,  and  there 
was  still  no  large  class  of  priests.  Sesostris  II 's  temple  of 
Anubis  at  Kahun  by  the  Fayum  had  over  it  only  a  noble 
with  the  office  of  "overseer  of  the  temple,"  assisted  by  a 
' '  chief  lector, ' '  with  nine  subordinates.  Only  the  ' '  overseer 
of  the  temple'"  and  the  "lector"  were  constantly  in  service 
at  the  sanctuary,  the  nine  subordinates  being  laymen,  who 
served  the  temple  only  one  month  in  the  year,  giving  place 
each  month  to  a  new  nine,  to  whom  they  turned  over  the 
temple  property  each  time.  Besides  these,  the  menial  duties 
of  the  sanctuary  demanded  six  door-keepers  and  two  ser- 
vants.1 

The  triumph  of  Osiris  was  not  less  sweeping  than  that  of 
Re,  although  for  totally  different  reasons.  The  supremacy  of 
Re  Was  largely  due  to  his  political  prominence,  added  to  the 
prestige  which  the  sun-god  had  always  enjoyed  in  the  Nile 
valley ;  while  that  of  Osiris  had  no  connection  with  the  state, 
but  was  a  purely  popular  victory.  That  his  priests  contrib- 
uted to  his  triumph  by  persistent  propaganda  is  nevertheless 
probable,  but  their  field  of  operations  will  have  been  among 
the  people.  At  Abydos  the  Osiris-myth  was  wrought  into 
a  series  of  dramatical  presentations  in  which  the  chief  inci- 
dents of  the  god 's  life,  death  and  final  triumph  were  annually 
enacted  before  the  people  by  the  priests.  Indeed  in  the  pres- 
entation of  some  portions  of  it  the  people  were  permitted 
to  participate ;  and  the  whole  was  unquestionably  as  impres- 
sive in  the  eyes  of  the  multitude  as  were  the  miracle  and 
passion  plays  of  the  Christian  age.  We  find  upon  their 
tomb-stones  not  uncommonly  the  prayer  that  in  the  future 

1  Borchardt,  Zeitschrift  fur  Aegyptische  Sprache,  1900,  94. 
*  I,  662,  669. 


172 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


they  may  be  able  to  come  forth  from  the  tomb  and  view  these 
festal  presentations.  Among  the  incidents  enacted  was  the 
procession  bearing  the  god's  body  to  his  tomb  for  burial.  It 
was  but  natural  that  this  custom  should  finally  result  in  iden- 
tifying as  the  original  tomb  of  Osiris  the  place  on  the  desert 
behind  Abydos,  which  in  this  scene  served  as  the  tomb. 
Thus  the  tomb  of  king  Zer  of  the  First  Dynasty,  who  had 
ruled  over  a  thousand  years  before,  was  in  the  Middle  King- 
dom already  regarded  as  that  of  Osiris.1  As  veneration  for 
the  spot  increased,  it  became  a  veritable  holy  sepulchre,  and 
Abydos  gained  a  sanctity  possessed  by  no  other  place  in 
Egypt.  All  this  wrought  powerfully  upon  the  people ;  they 
came  in  pilgrimage  to  the  place  and  the  ancient  tomb  of  Zer 
was  buried  deep  beneath  a  mountain  of  jars  containing  the 
votive  offerings  which  they  brought.  If  possible  the  Egyp- 
tian was  now  buried  at  Abydos  within  the  wall  which 
enclosed  the  god's  temple  until  the  tombs  began  to  encroach 
upon  the  temple  area,  and  the  priests  found  it  necessary  to 
erect  a  wall  around  them,  cutting  them  off  from  further 
absorption  of  the  sacred  enclosure.  From  the  vizier  himself 
down  to  the  humblest  cobbler,  we  find  them  crowding  this 
most  sacred  cemetery  of  Egypt.  Where  burial  at  Abydos 
was  impossible,  however,  as  in  the  case  of  the  nomarch,  the 
dead  of  the  noble  class  were  at  least  carried  thither  after 
embalmment  to  associate  with  the  great  god  and  participate 
for  a  time  in  his  ceremonies;  after  which  they  were  then 
carried  back  to  be  interred  at  home.  But  the  masses  to 
whom  even  this  was  impossible  erected  memorial  tablets 
there  for  themselves  and  their  relatives,  calling  upon  the 
god  in  prayer  and  praise  to  remember  them  in  the  here- 
after. Koyal  officials  and  emissaries  of  the  government, 
whose  business  brought  them  to  the  city,  failed  not  to  im- 
prove the  opportunity  to  erect  such  a  tablet,  and  the  date 
and  character  of  their  commissions  which  they  sometimes 
add,  furnish  us  with  invaluable  historical  facts,  of  which  we 
should  otherwise  never  have  gained  any  knowledge.2 

ilbid.  *E.  g.  I,  671-2. 


MIDDLE  KINGDOM  OR  THE  FEUDAL  AGE  173 


As  the  destiny  of  the  dead  became  more  and  more  closely 
identified  with  that  of  Osiris,  the  judgment  which  he  had 
been  obliged  to  undergo  was  supposed  to  await  also  all  who 
departed  to  his  realms.  Strangely  enough  it  is  Osiris  him- 
self who  presides  over  the  ordeal  to  which  every  arrival  in 
the  nether  world  was  now  supposed  to  be  subjected.  He 
had  already  been  known  as  a  judge  in  the  Old  Kingdom,  but 
it  was  not  until  the  Middle  Kingdom  that  this  idea  was 
clearly  developed  and  took  firm  hold  upon  the  mortuary 
beliefs  of  the  time.  Before  Osiris,  enthroned  with  forty 
two  assistant  judges,  hideous  demons,  each  representing  one 
of  the  nomes  into  which  Egypt  was  divided,  the  deceased 
was  led  into  the  judgment-hall.  Here  he  addressed  his 
judges,  and  to  each  one  of  the  forty  two  assistants  he  pleaded 
not  guilty  to  a  certain  sin,  while  his  heart  was  weighed  in 
the  balances  over  against  a  feather,  the  symbol  of  truth, 
in  order  to  test  the  truth  of  his  plea.  The  forty  two  sins, 
of  which  he  says  he  was  not  guilty,  are  those  which  are  con- 
demned as  well  by  the  modern  conscience  of  the  world. 
They  may  be  summed  up  as  murder,  stealing,  especially 
robbing  minors,  lying,  deceit,  false  witness  and  slander,  revil- 
ing, eaves-dropping,  sexual  impurity,  adultery,  and  trespass 
against  the  gods  or  the  dead  as  in  blasphemy  or  stealing  of 
mortuary  offerings.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  ethical  standard 
was  high;  moreover  in  this  judgment  the  Egyptian  intro- 
duced for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  man  the  fully 
developed  idea  that  the  future  destiny  of  the  dead  must 
be  dependent  entirely  upon  the  ethical  quality  of  the  earthly 
life,  the  idea  of  future  accountability,— of  which  we  found 
the  first  traces  in  the  Old  Kingdom.  The  whole  concep- 
tion is  notable;  for  a  thousand  years  or  more  after  this  no 
such  idea  was  known  among  other  peoples,  and  in  Babylonia 
and  Israel  good  and  bad  alike  descended  together  at  death 
into  gloomy  Sheol,  where  no  distinction  was  made  between 
them.  Those  who  failed  to  sustain  the  ordeal  before  Osiris 
successfully  were  condemned  to  hunger  and  thirst,  lying  in 
the  darkness  of  the  tomb,  from  which  they  might  not  come 


174 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


forth  to  view  the  sun.  There  were  also  frightful  execu- 
tioners, one  of  which,  a  hideous  combination  of  crocodile, 
lion  and  hippopotamus,  was  present  at  the  judgment,  and 
to  her  the  guilty  were  delivered  to  be  torn  in  pieces.  In 
harmony  with  the  triumph  of  the  notion  of  judgment,  it  is 
noticeable  in  the  Middle  Kingdom  that  the  desire  to  enjoy 
at  least  the  reputation  of  a  benevolent  and  blameless  life 
was  more  general  than  before.  We  now  more  often  read 
upon  the  tomb-stones  such  words  as  we  noticed  in  the  Old 
Kingdom,  ' '  I  gave  bread  to  the  hungry,  water  to  the  thirsty, 
clothing  to  the  naked  and  a  ferry-boat  to  the  boatless";  or 
"I  was  father  to  the  orphan,  husband  to  the  widow,  and  a 
shelter  to  the  shelterless."  We  have  already  referred  to 
the  benevolence  of  the  feudal  lords  of  the  time. 

The  blessed  dead,  who  successfully  sustained  the  judgment 
each  received  the  predicate  "true  of  speech,"  a  term  which 
was  interpreted  as  meaning  "triumphant,"  and  from  now 
on  so  employed.  Every  deceased  person,  when  spoken  of 
by  the  living,  received  this  predicate ;  it  was  always  written 
after  the  names  of  the  dead,  and  finally  also  after  those  of 
the  living  in  anticipation  of  their  happy  destiny.  The  pre- 
vailing notions  regarding  the  future  life  had  not  been  clari- 
fied by  the  universal  sway  of  Osiris.  On  the  contrary,  all 
the  old  beliefs  were  now  intermingled  in  inextricable  con- 
fusion, only  worse  confounded  by  the  effort  to  accommodate 
them  to  the  Osiris  faith,  with  which  in  the  beginning  they 
had  had  nothing  to  do.  The  favourite  idea  is  still  that  the 
departed  sojourn  in  the  field  of  Yaru,  enjoying  peace  and 
plenty,  to  which  they  contribute  by  cultivating  the  fruitful 
plains  of  the  isle,  which  bring  forth  grain  twelve  feet  high. 
At  the  same  time  they  may  dwell  in  the  tomb  or  tarry  in  its 
vicinity;  they  may  mount  the  heavens  to  be  the  comrades 
of  Be ;  they  may  descend  to  the  realm  of  Osiris  in  the  nether 
world;  or  they  may  consort  with  the  noble  dead  who  once 
ruled  Egypt  at  Abydos. 

In  one  important  respect  the  beliefs  of  the  Egyptian 
regsrdmg  his  future  state  have  suffered  a  striking  change. 


MIDDLE  KINGDOM  OR  THE  FEUDAL  AGE  175 


He  is  now  beset  with  innumerable  dangers  in  the  next  world, 
against  which  he  must  be  forewarned  and  forearmed.  Be- 
sides the  serpents  common  in  the  Pyramid  Texts,  the  most 
uncanny  foes  await  him.  There  is  the  crocodile,  who  may 
rob  the  deceased  of  all  his  potent  charms,  the  foes  of  the  air, 
who  may  withdraw  breath  from  his  nostrils;  water  may 
burst  into  flame  as  he  would  drink;  he  may  be  deprived  of 
his  mortuary  food  and  drink,  and  be  forced  to  devour  the 
refuse  of  his  own  body ;  he  may  be  robbed  of  his  throne  and 
place ;  his  body  may  fall  into  decay ;  his  foes  may  rob  him 
of  his  mouth,  his  heart,  or  even  of  his  head ;  and  should  they 
take  his  name  away,  his  whole  identity  would  be  lost  or 
annihilated.  None  of  these  apprehensions  existed  in  the 
Pyramid  Texts,  which  have  since  fallen  into  disuse ;  but,  we 
repeat,  the  deceased  must  now  be  forewarned  and  forearmed 
against  all  these  dangers,  and  hence  a  mass  of  magical  formu- 
laries has  arisen  since  the  Old  Kingdom  by  the  proper  utter- 
ance of  which  the  dead  may  overcome  all  these  foes  and 
live  in  triumph  and  security.  These  charms  are  accom- 
panied by  others  enabling  the  dead  to  assume  any  form  that 
he  wishes,  to  go  forth  from  the  tomb  at  will,  or  to  return  and 
rejoin  the  body.  The  judgment  also  is  depicted  in  detail 
with  all  that  the  deceased  must  be  prepared  to  say  on  that 
occasion.  All  this  was  written  for  the  use  of  the  deceased 
on  the  inside  of  his  coffin,  and  although  no  canonical  selec- 
tion of  these  texts  yet  existed,  they  formed  the  nucleus  of 
what  afterward  became  the  Book  of  the  Dead,  or,  as  the 
Egyptian  later  called  it,  "The  Chapters  of  Going  Forth  by 
Day/'  in  reference  to  their  great  function  of  enabling  the 
dead  to  leave  the  tomb.  It  will  be  seen  that  in  this  class 
of  literature  there  was  offered  to  an  unscrupulous  priest- 
hood an  opportunity  for  gain,  of  which  in  later  centuries 
they  did  not  fail  to  take  advantage.  Already  they  attempted 
what  might  not  inappropriately  be  termed  a  "guide-book" 
of  the  hereafter,  a  geography  of  the  other  world,  with  a 
map  of  the  two  ways  along  which  the  dead  might  journey. 
This  1  'Book  of  the  Two  Ways"  was  Drobably  composed  for 


176 


A  HISTORY  OP  EGYPT 


no  other  purpose  than  for  gain;  and  the  tendency  of  which 
it  is  an  evidence  will  meet  us  in  future  centuries  as  the  most 
baleful  influence  of  Egyptian  life  and  religion. 

In  the  material  equipment  of  the  dead,  the  mastaba,  while 
it  has  not  entirely  disappeared,  has  largely  been  displaced 
by  the  excavated  cliff-tomb,  already  found  so  practical  and 
convenient  by  the  nobles  of  Upper  Egypt  in  the  Old  King- 
dom. The  kings,  however,  continue  to  build  pyramids  as 
we  shall  see.  The  furniture  supposed  to  accompany  the 
dead  in  the  tomb  is  now  frequently  painted  on  the  inside  of 
his  coffin.  Besides  this  an  elaborate  equipment  (Fig.  81) 
was  placed  beside  the  coffin,  including  a  model  boat  with  all 
its  crew,  in  order  that  the  deceased  might  have  no  difficulty 
in  crossing  the  waters  to  the  happy  isles.  By  the  pyramid 
of  Sesostris  III  in  the  sands  of  the  desert  there  were  even 
buried  five  large  Nile  boats  (Fig.  82),  intended  to  carry  the 
king  and  his  house  across  these  waters.  In  addition  to  the 
statue  of  the  noble  in  his  tomb,  the  king  now  rewarded 
deserving  servants  of  the  state  by  the  gift  of  another  por- 
trait statue,  bearing  a  dedication  in  the  noble's  honour,  which 
was  set  up  in  one  of  the  larger  temples,  where  it  shared  in 
the  offerings,  which,  after  they  had  been  presented  to  the 
god,  were  distributed  for  other  use ;  and  what  was  even  more 
desired,  it  enabled  the  deceased  noble  to  participate  in  all 
the  feasts  celebrated  in  the  temple,  as  he  had  been  wont 
to  do  in  life. 


CHAPTER  X 


THE  TWELFTH  DYNASTY. 

We  have  seen  that  under  the  vigourous  and  skilful  leader- 
ship of  Amenemhet  I  the  rights  and  privileges  attained  by 
the  powerful  landed  nobles  were  for  the  first  time  properly 
adjusted  and  subjected  to  the  centralized  authority  of  the 
kingship,  thus  enabling  the  country,  after  a  long  interval, 
again  to  enjoy  the  inestimable  advantages  accruing  from 
a  uniform  control  of  the  nation's  affairs.  This  difficult  and 
delicate  task  doubtless  consumed  a  large  part  of  Amenemhet 
Fs  reign,  but  when  it  was  once  thoroughly  accomplished, 
his  house  was  able  to  rule  the  country  for  over  two  centuries. 
It  is  probable  that  at  no  other  time  in  the  history  of  Egypt 
did  the  land  enjoy  such  widespread  and  bountiful  prosperity 
as  now  ensued.    Amenemhet  himself  says  of  it: 

I  was  one  who  cultivated  grain  and  loved  the  harvest-god; 
The  Nile  greeted  me  in  every  valley ; 
None  was  hungry  in  my  years,  none  thirsted  then; 
Men  dwelt  in  peace,  through  that  which  I  wrought,  conversing 
of  me.1 

In  the  midst  of  all  this,  when  Amenemhet  fancied  that  he 
had  firmly  established  himself  and  his  line  upon  the  throne 
of  the  land  which  owed  him  so  much,  a  foul  conspiracy  to 
assassinate  him  was  conceived  among  the  official  members 
of  his  household.  It  would  seem  that  it  even  went  so  far 
as  the  final  attack  upon  the  king's  person  in  the  night,  and 
that  he  only  escaped  with  his  life  after  a  combat  with  his 
assailants  in  his  bed-chamber.  However  this  may  be,  the 
palace  halls  rang  with  the  clash  of  arms,  and  the  king's  life 

*I,  483. 

12  177 


178 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


was  in  danger.1  In  1980  B.  C,  probably  no  long  time  after 
this  incident,  and  doubtless  influenced  by  it,  Amenemhet 
appointed  his  son  Sesostris,  the  first  of  the  name,  to  share 
the  throne  as  coregent  with  him.  The  prince  brought  to  his 
high  office  a  new  fund  of  energy,  and  as  the  internal  affairs 
of  the  country  were  finally  made  more  and  more  stable,  he 
was  able  to  devote  his  attention  to  the  winning  of  the  extreme 
South,  an  enterprise  which  had  been  interrupted  by  the  rise 
of  the  feudal  barons  and  the  fall  of  the  Sixth  Dynasty.  In 
spite  of  the  achievements  of  that  dynasty  in  the  South,  the 
country  below  the  first  cataract  as  far  north  as  Edfu  was 
still  reckoned  as  belonging  to  Nubia  and  still  bore  the  name 
Tapedet,  "Bow-Land,"2  usually  applied  to  Nubia.  In  the 
twenty  ninth  year  of  the  old  king  the  Egyptian  forces  pene- 
trated Wawat  to  Korusko,  the  termination  of  the  desert 
route  cutting  off  the  great  westward  bend  of  the  Nile,  and 
captured  prisoners  among  the  Mazoi  in  the  country  beyond.3 
We  can  hardly  doubt  that  the  young  Sesostris  was  the  leader 
of  this  expedition.  Work  was  also  resumed  in  the  quarries 
of  Hammamat,4  while  in  the  North  "the  Troglodytes,  the 
Asiatics  and  Sand-dwellers"  on  the  east  of  the  Delta  were 
punished.  This  eastern  frontier  was  strengthened  at  the 
eastern  terminus  of  the  Wadi  Tumilat  by  a  fortification, 
perhaps  that  already  in  existence  under  the  Old  Kingdom 
Pharaohs ;  and  a  garrison,  with  its  sentinels  constantly  upon 
the  watch  towers,  was  stationed  there.6  Thus  in  North  and 
South  alike  an  aggressive  policy  was  maintained,  the  fron- 
tiers made  safe  and  the  foreign  connections  of  the  kingdom 
carefully  regarded. 

As  the  old  king  felt  his  end  approaching,  he  delivered  to 
his  son  brief  instructions7  embodying  the  ripe  wisdom  which 
he  had  accumulated  during  his  long  career.  The  reader 
may  clearly  discern  in  these  utterances  the  bitterness  with 
which  the  attempt  upon  his  life  by  his  own  immediate  circle 
had  imbued  the  aged  Amenemhet.    He  says  to  his  son : 

1 1,  479-480.  2 1,  500,  I.  4.  3 1,  472-3,  483.     <  I,  466-8. 

Z,  469-71;  483,  1.  3.         « I,  493,  11.  17-19.  7  1,  474-483. 


THE  TWELFTH  DYNASTY 


179 


Hearken  to  that  which  I  say  to  thee, 

That  thou  mayest  be  king  of  the  earth, 

That  thou  mayest  be  ruler  of  the  lands, 

That  thou  mayest  increase  good. 

Harden  thyself  against  all  subordinates. 

The  people  give  heed  to  him  who  terrorizes  them ; 

Approach  them  not  alone. 

Fill  not  thy  heart  with  a  brother, 

Know  not  a  friend, 

Nor  make  for  thyself  intimates, 

Wherein  there  is  no  end. 

When  thou  sleepest,  guard  for  thyself  thine  own  heart ; 

For  a  man  has  no  people, 

In  the  day  of  evil. 

I  gave  to  the  beggar, 

I  nourished  the  orphan ; 

I  admitted  the  insignificant, 

As  well  as  him  who  was  of  great  account. 

But  he  who  ate  my  food  made  insurrection ; 

He  to  whom  I  gave  my  hand,  aroused  fear  therein.1 

The  story  of  ingratitude  which  was  finally  capable  of  a 
murderous  assault  upon  him,  then  follows,  in  order  to  en- 
force the  embittered  counsel  of  the  old  king.  It  was  probably 
not  long  after  this  that  Sesostris  was  dispatched  at  the  head 
of  an  army  to  chastise  the  Libyans  on  the  western  frontier. 
During  the  absence  of  the  prince  on  this  campaign  in  1970 
B.  C,  Amenemhet  died,  after  a  reign  of  thirty  years.  Swift 
messengers  were  dispatched  to  inform  Sesostris  of  his 
father's  demise.  Without  letting  the  army  know  what  had 
happened  he  quickly  left  the  camp  that  night  and  hastened 
to  the  Residence  at  Ithtowe,  where  he  assumed  the  throne 
before  any  pretender  among  the  sons  of  the  harem  could 
forestall  him.2  The  whole  proceeding  is  characteristic  of 
the  history  of  every  royal  line  from  the  earliest  times  in  the 
orient.  Similarly,  the  news  of  the  old  king's  death,  acciden- 
tally overheard  in  the  royal  tent  of  Sesostris,  threw  a  certain 
Sinuhe,  one  of  the  nobles  there,  into  a  state  of  abject  terror, 

*!,  478-9.  a  I,  491. 


180 


A  HISTORY  OP  EGYPT 


such  that  he  immediately  concealed  himself,  and  watching 
his  opportunity  fled  into  Asia,  where  he  remained  for  many 
years.  Whether  he  had  been  guilty  of  some  act  which  in- 
curred the  displeasure  of  the  prince  coregent,  or  whether 
he  had  some  indirect  claim  upon  the  throne  which  became 
valid  at  Amenemhet's  death,  is  uncertain;  but  his  precipi- 
tate flight  from  Egypt  is  another  striking  evidence  of  the 
dangerous  forces  which  were  liberated  by  the  death  of  a 
Pharaoh. 1 

The  achievements  of  the  house  of  Amenemhet  outside  of 
the  limits  of  Egypt:  in  Nubia,  Hammamat  and  Sinai,  have 
left  more  adequate  records  in  these  regions  than  their  benefi- 
cent and  prosperous  rule  in  Egypt  itself ;  and  the  progress 
of  the  dynasty,  at  least  in  inscribed  records,  can  be  more 
clearly  traced  abroad  than  at  home.  It  will  therefore  be 
easier  to  follow  the  foreign  enterprises  of  the  dynasty  before 
we  dwell  upon  their  achievements  at  home.  Profiting  by  his 
ten  years'  experience  as  coregent  with  his  father,  Sesostris 
I  was  able  to  maintain  with  undimmed  splendour  the  pres- 
tige of  his  house.  He  proved  himself  quite  capable  of  con- 
tinuing the  great  enterprises  which  he  had  inherited.  The 
conquest  of  Nubia  was  pushed  as  before;  the  feudatories 
were  called  upon  to  muster  their  quotas,  and  Ameni,  later 
nomarch  of  the  Oryx-nome,  relates  in  his  Benihasan  tomb 
that  his  father,  who  had  been  appointed  nomarch  by  Ame- 
nemhet I,  was  now  too  old  to  undertake  such  a  campaign, 
and  that  he  himself,  therefore,  as  his  father's  representa- 
tive placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  troops  of  the  Oryx- 
nome,  and  penetrated  Kush  under  the  leadership  of  his  liege, 
Sesostris  I.  The  war  was  thus  carried  above  the  second  cat- 
aract into  the  great  region  known  as  Kush,  which  now 
becomes  common  in  the  monumental  records,  although  the 
name  occurs  but  once  upon  the  monuments  of  the  Old  King- 
dom. 2  We  know  nothing  of  the  course  of  the  campaign, 
but  it  did  not  involve  serious  fighting,  for  Ameni  boasts 
that  he  returned  without  the  loss  of  a  man.3    The  nomarch 

«I,  486  ff.  I,  361.  3  1,  519. 


THE  TWELFTH  DYNASTY 


181 


of  Elephantine,  as  in  the  Sixth  Dynasty,  also  played  a  prom- 
inent part  in  the  war  and  it  was  perhaps  upon  this  expe- 
dition that  an  elephant  was  captured,  to  which  he  refers 
in  his  tomb  at  Assuan.1  The  campaign  is  notable  as  the  first 
in  a  foreign  country  ever  led  by  the  Pharaoh  personally,  in 
so  far  as  we  know.  The  date  of  the  expedition  is  unknown, 
but  it  was  doubtless  earlier  than  that  which  occurred  eight 
years  after  the  death  of  the  king's  father,  for  Sesostris  I 
then  no  longer  regarded  it  as  necessary  to  lead  the  conquest 
of  the  South  in  person.  He  therefore  dispatched  Mentu- 
hotep,  one  of  his  commanders,  on  a  further  campaign  in 
Kush.  Mentuhotep  left  a  large  stela2  at  Wadi  Haifa,  just 
below  the  second  cataract,  recording  his  triumph  and  giving 
us  the  first  list  of  conquered  foreign  districts  and  towns 
which  we  possess.  Unfortunately  we  know  so  little  of 
Nubian  geography  in  this  distant  age  that  only  one  of  the 
ten  districts  enumerated  can  be  located.  It  was  called  Shet, 
and  lay  above  the  second  cataract  some  thirty  or  forty  miles 
south  of  Wadi  Haifa,  near  modern  Kummeh.  It  is  thus 
probable  that  Mentuhotep 's  stela  was  erected  close  to,  if  not 
in  the  region  which  he  conquered.  To  this  stela  we  have 
already  referred  as  the  one  on  which  Mentuhotep  made  him- 
self so  prominent  that  his  figure  was  erased  and  that  of  a 
god  placed  over  it.  All  appearances  would  indicate  that 
the  successful  commander  was  deposed  and  disgraced. 
The  country  was  now  sufficiently  subjugated,  so  that  the 
chiefs  could  be  forced  to  work  the  mines  on  the  east,  in  the 
Wadi  Alaki  and  vicinity,  and  Ameni  of  the  Oryx-nome  was 
dispatched  to  Nubia  at  the  head  of  four  hundred  troops  of 
his  nome  to  bring  back  the  output  of  gold.  The  king  im- 
proved the  occasion  to  send  with  Ameni  the  young  crown- 
prince,  who  afterward  became  Amenemhet  II,  in  order  that 
he  might  familiarize  himself  with  the  region  where  he  should 
one  day  be  called  upon  to  continue  the  process  of  subjuga- 
tion and  of  incorporation  into  the  Pharaoh's  kingdom.3 
Similarly  the  gold  country  on  the  east  of  Coptos  was  now 

1  I,  p.  247,  note  b.  2  \y  510-514.  3 1,  520. 


182 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


exploited,  and  the  faithful  Ameni  was  entrusted  with  the 
mission  of  convoying  the  vizier,  who  had  been  sent  thither, 
to  convey  the  precious  metal  safely  to  the  Nile  valley.  This 
he  successfully  accomplished  with  a  force  of  six  hundred 
men,  mustered  from  the  Oryx-nome.1  The  development  of 
Egypt 's  foreign  interests  was  evidently  closely  watched  by 
Sesostris  I,  and  it  is  under  him  that  we  first  hear  of  inter- 
course with  the  oases.  While  the  Pharaoh  was  not  yet  able 
to  take  possession  of  them,  it  is  evident  that  he  was  in  com- 
munication with  their  towns.  Ikudidi,  a  steward  of  Sesos- 
tris I,  was  dispatched  by  him  to  the  great  oasis  of  El 
Khargeh  on  the  west  of  Abydos,  whence  the  caravans 
started  thither.  His  visit  in  the  city  of  the  holy  sepulchre 
of  Osiris  was  an  opportunity  improved  by  Ikudidi,  as  by 
so  many  of  his  colleagues;  and  he  erected  a  memorial  stela 
there,  praying  for  the  favour  of  the  god.  His  incidental  ref- 
erence on  this  monument  to  the  occasion  of  his  visit  at 
Abydos  is  our  sole  source  of  information  regarding  his  expe- 
dition to  the  oasis.2 

It  was  doubtless  the  realization  of  the  evident  advantage 
which  he  had  enjoyed  by  the  association  with  his  father  as 
coregent  that  induced  Sesostris  I  to  appoint  his  own  son  in 
the  same  way.  When  he  died  in  1935  B.  C,  after  a  reign 
of  thirty  five  years,  his  son,  Amenemhet  II  had  already  been 
coregent  for  three  years,3  and  assumed  the  sole  authority 
without  difficulty.  This  policy  was  also  continued  by  Ame- 
nemhet II  and  his  son  Sesostris  II  had  also  ruled  three 
years4  in  conjunction  with  his  father  before  the  latter 's 
death.  For  fifty  years  under  these  two  kings  in  succession 
the  nation  enjoyed  unabated  prosperity.  The  mines  of 
Sinai  were  reopened,5  and  the  traffic  with  Punt,  resumed  by 
Amenemhet  II,  was  continued  under  his  son.6  The  road 
across  the  desert  from  Coptos,  five  days  to  the  Eed  Sea,  had 
already  been  supplied  with  wells  and  stations  by  the  Theban 

i  I,  521.  2 1,  524-8.  3  I,  460. 

*  Ibid.  s  I,  602.  fl  I,  604-6,  618. 


THE  TWELFTH  DYNASTY 


183 


kings  of  the  Eleventh  Dynasty.1  The  route  was  north  of 
the  Hammamat  road  and  terminated  in  a  small  harbour  at 
the  mouth  of  the  modern  Wadi  Gasiis,  some  miles  north  of 
the  later  harbour  of  Koser,  the  Leucos  Limen  of  the  Ptole- 
mies. Two  of  the  commanders  who  sailed  from  this  port 
(Wadi  Gasus)  left  inscriptions2  there  to  commemorate  their 
safe  return.  The  distant  shores  of  Punt  gradually  became 
more  familiar  to  Egyptian  folk  and  a  popular  tale  narrates 
the  marvellous  adventures  of  a  shipwrecked  seaman  in  these 
waters.  The  Nubian  gold-mines  continued  to  be  a  source 
of  wealth  to  the  royal  house,  and  Egyptian  interests  in 
Nubia  were  protected  by  fortresses  in  Wawat,  garrisoned 
and  subject  to  periodical  inspection.3  With  the  death  of 
Sesostris  II  in  1887  B.  C,  all  was  ripe  for  the  complete  and 
thorough  conquest  of  the  two  hundred  miles  of  Nile  valley 
that  lie  between  the  first  and  second  cataracts. 

Sesostris  III  was  possibly  the  only  one  of  his  house  who 
had  not  enjoyed  a  period  of  joint  power  with  his  father  in 
preparation  for  the  duties  of  his  high  office.  Nevertheless 
he  proved  himself  worthy  of  the  great  line  from  which  he 
sprang.  Immediately  on  his  accession  he  took  the  prelimi- 
nary steps  toward  the  completion  of  the  great  task  in  Nubia. 
The  most  important  of  these  measures  was  the  establishment 
of  unbroken  connection  by  water  with  the  country  above 
the  first  cataract.  It  was  over  six  hundred  years  since  the 
excavation  of  the  canal  through  the  cataract  by  Uni  in  the 
Sixth  Dynasty,  and  meantime  it  may  have  been  demolished 
by  the  action  of  the  powerful  current.  In  any  case,  we 
hear  nothing  more  of  it.  At  the  most  difficult  .point  in  the 
granite  barrier  the  engineers  of  Sesostris  III  cut  a  channel 
through  the  rock  some  two  hundred  and  sixty  feet  long, 
nearly  thirty  four  feet  wide  and  nearly  twenty  six  feet  deep. 4 
It  was  named  "Beautiful-are-the-Ways-of-Khekure"  (the 
throne  name  of  Sesostris  III),  and  many  a  war-galley  of 
the  Pharaoh  must  have  been  drawn  up  through  it  during 

»  See  above,  p.  153.        2 I,  604-6,  617-18.         si,  616.  *  I,  642-4. 


184 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


the  early  campaigns  of  this  king,  of  which  we  unfortunately 
have  no  records.  In  the  eighth  year  it  was  found  to  be 
choked  up  and  had  to  be  cleared  for  the  expedition  then 
passing  up  river.1  The  subjugation  of  the  country  had 
then  made  such  progress  that  Sesostris  III  was  in  that  year 
able  to  select  a  favourable  strategic  position  as  his  frontier 
at  modern  Kummeh  and  Semneh,  which  are  opposite  each 
other  on  the  banks  of  the  river  just  above  the  second  cat- 
aract. This  point  he  formally  declared  to  be  the  southern 
boundary  of  his  kingdom.  He  erected  on  each  side  of  the 
river  a  stela  marking  the  boundary-line,  and  one  of  these 
two  important  landmarks  has  survived ;  it  bears  the  follow- 
ing significant  inscription:  "Southern  boundary  made  in 
the  year  eight,  under  the  majesty  of  the  king  of  Upper  and 
Lower  Egypt,  Sesostris  III,  who  is  given  life  for  ever  and 
ever:— in  order  to  prevent  that  any  negro  should  cross  it 
by  water  or  by  land,  with  a  ship,  or  any  herds  of  the 
negroes ;  except  a  negro  who  shall  cross  it  to  do  trading  .  .  . 
or  with  a  commission.  All  kind  treatment  shall  be  accorded 
them,  but  without  allowing  a  ship  of  the  negroes  to  pass 
by  Heh  [Semneh]  going  down  stream,  forever."2  It  was 
of  course  impossible  to  maintain  the  frontier  in  this  way 
without  a  constant  display  of  force.  Sesostris  III  had  there- 
fore erected  a  strong  fortress  on  each  side  of  the  river  at 
this  point.  The  stronger  and  larger  of  the  two,  at  Semneh, 
on  the  west  side,  was  called  "Mighty  is  Khekure',  (Sesos- 
tris III),3  and  within  its  fortified  enclosure  he  built  a  temple 
to  Dedwen,  a  native  god  of  Nubia.  These  two  strongholds 
(Fig.  83)  still  survive,  and  although  in  a  state  of  ruin,  they 
show  remarkable  skill  in  the  selection  of  the  site  and 
unexpected  knowledge  of  the  art  of  constructing  effective 
defenses. 

Four  years  later  disturbances  among  the  turbulent  Nubian 
tribes  south  of  the  frontier  again  called  the  king  into  Nubia. 
Although  Egypt  did  not  claim  sovereignty  in  Kush,  the 
country  above  the  second  cataract,  it  was  nevertheless  nec- 

*I,  645-7.  2 1,  652.  3  I,  752. 


THE  TWELFTH  DYNASTY 


185 


essary  for  the  Pharaoh  to  protect  the  trade-routes  leading 
through  it  to  his  new  frontier,  from  the  extreme  south— routes, 
along  which  the  products  of  the  Sudan  were  now  constantly 
passing  into  Egypt.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  declaration 
of  the  boundary  permitted  the  passage  of  any  negro  who 
came  to  trade,  or  bore  a  matter  of  business  from  some 
southern  chief.  From  now  on  it  was  more  often  south  of 
his  frontier  that  the  Pharaoh  was  obliged  to  appear  in  force, 


Fig.  83.    Restoration  of  the  Fortresses  of  Semneh  and  Kummeh. 
(After  Perrot  and  Chipiez.) 


than  in  the  country  between  the  first  two  cataracts.  More- 
over, there  was  rich  plunder  to  be  had  on  these  campaigns 
over  the  border,  so  that  the  maintenance  of  the  southern 
trade  routes  was  not  without  its  compensations.  Sesostris 
III  was  able  to  send  his  chief  treasurer,  Ikhernofret,  to 
restore  the  cultus  image  of  Osiris  at  Abydos  with  gold  cap- 
tured in  Kush;1  it  continued  to  be  more  plentiful  and  there- 
fore less  valuable  than  silver.    The  letter  written  by  the 

*I,  665. 


186 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


king  to  the  treasurer  on  this  occasion  we  have  already  read 
in  the  preceding  chapter.1 

The  Kushite  tribes  including  the  barbarians  on  the  east 
of  the  Nile  valley,  must  have  made  an  unusual  raid  over 
the  border  just  before  the  sixteenth  year,  for  in  that  year 
Sesostris  III  undertook  an  extensive  campaign  against  them, 
in  which  he  devastated  their  country,  burnt  their  harvests 
and  carried  off  their  cattle.  He  then  renewed  his  declara- 
tion of  the  southern  boundary  at  Semneh,  erecting  a  stela  2 
in  the  temple  there  bearing  his  second  proclamation  of  the 
place  of  the  frontier,  and  exhorting  his  descendants  to  main- 
tain it  where  he  had  established  it.  He  also  erected  on  the 
boundary  a  statue3  of  himself  as  if  to  awe  the  natives  of  the 
region  by  his  very  presence.  At  the  same  time  he  strength- 
ened the  frontier  defenses  by  a  fortress  at  Wadi  Haifa,  prob- 
ably due  to  him,  and  another  at  Matuga,  twelve  miles  further 
south,  in  which  his  name  was  found.  He  erected  also 
another  stronghold  on  the  island  of  Uronarti,  just  below 
Semneh.  Here  he  placed  a  duplicate  of  the  second  proc- 
lamation.4 He  called  this  new  fort  "Repulse  of  the  Troglo- 
dytes,"5 and  an  annual  feast  bearing  the  same  name  was 
established  in  the  temple  of  Semneh,  where  it  was  main- 
tained with  a  regular  calendar  of  offerings.  This  feast 
was  still  celebrated  and  its  calendar  of  offerings  renewed 
under  the  Empire.6  Three  years  later  a  campaign,  which 
may  have  been  only  a  journey  of  inspection,  was  led  into 
Kush  by  the  king  himself,  and  as  far  as  we  know  this  was 
his  last  expedition  thither.7  He  seems  to  have  led  all  his 
wars  there  in  person;  his  vigourous  policy  so  thoroughly 
established  the  supremacy  of  the  Pharaoh  in  the  newly  won 
possessions  that  the  Empire  regarded  him  as  the  real  con- 
queror of  the  region,  and  he  was  worshipped  already  in  the 
Eighteenth  Dynasty  as  the  god  of  the  land.8  Thus  the 
gradual  progress  of  the  Pharaohs  southward,  which  had 
begun  in  prehistoric  times  at  El  Kab  (Nekhen)  and  had 

i  See  above,  p.  1G6.         2  I,  653-GGO.  3  I,  660.  *  I,  654. 

5  Ibid.  167  ff.  7  I,  692.  «II,  167  ff. 


Fig.  84.-THE  NUBIAN  NILE  FROM  THE  RUINED  MOSLEM 
STRONGHOLD  UN  THE  HEIGHT'S  OF  1 15 KIM. 
(Stereograph  copyright  by  Underwood  ii  Underwood,  N.  Y.) 


Fig.  85.— RUINS   OF    THE    MIDDLE    KINGDOM    MINING   SETTLEMENT   AT  SAKBUT 

EL-KHADEM,  SINAI. 
(Ordnance  Survey  photograph.) 


THE  TWELFTH  DYNASTY 


187 


absorbed  the  first  cataract  by  the  beginning  of  the  Sixth 
Dynasty,  had  now  reached  the  second  cataract,  and  had 
added  two  hundred  miles  of  the  Nile  valley  to  the  king- 
dom. While  this  conquest  had  been  already  begun  in  the 
Sixth  Dynasty,  it  was  the  kings  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty  who 
made  it  an  accomplished  fact. 

It  is  under  the  aggressive  Sesostris  III  also  that  we  hear 
of  the  first  invasion  of  Syria  by  the  Pharaohs.  Sebek-khu, 
one  of  his  military  attendants,  at  that  time  commandant  of 
the  residence  city,  who  had  also  served  in  Nubia,  mentions 
on  his  memorial  stone 1  at  Abydos  that  he  accompanied  the 
king  on  a  campaign  into  a  region  called  Sekmem  in  Retenu 
(Syria).  The  Asiatics  were  defeated  in  battle,  and  Sebek- 
khu  took  a  prisoner.  He  narrates  with  visible  pride  how 
the  king  rewarded  him:  "He  gave  me  a  staff  of  electrum 
into  my  hand,  a  bow,  and  a  dagger  wrought  with  electrum, 
together  with  his  [the  prisoner's]  weapons."  Here  is  a 
trace  of  the  military  enthusiasm,  which  two  centuries  and  a 
half  later  achieved  the  conquest  of  the  Pharaoh's  empire  in 
the  same  region.  Unfortunately  we  do  not  know  the  loca- 
tion of  Sekmem  in  Syria,  but  it  is  evident  that  in  some 
degree  the  Pharaohs  of  the  Middle  Kingdom  were  prepar- 
ing the  way  for  the  conquest  in  Asia,  as  those  of  the  Sixth 
Dynasty  had  done  in  Nubia.  Already  in  Sesostris  I's  time 
regular  messengers2  to  and  from  the  Pharaonic  court  were 
traversing  Syria  and  Palestine :  Egyptians  and  the  Egyp- 
tian tongue  were  not  uncommon  there,  and  the  dread  of  the 
Pharaoh's  name  was  already  felt.  At  Gezer,  between 
Jerusalem  and  the  sea,  the  stela  of  an  Egyptian  official  of 
this  age  has  recently  been  found3  within  the  precincts  of 
the  "high  place"  in  the  "fourth  city"  from  the  bottom  of 
the  Gezer  "tell."  Khnumhotep  of  Menet-Khufu  depicts  in 
his  well  known  Benihasan  tomb  the  arrival  of  thirty  seven 
Semitic  tribesmen,  who  evidently  came  to  trade  with  the 
nomarch,  offering  him  the  fragrant  cosmetics  so  much  used 

II,  676-687.  2  I,  496,  1.  94.  spEFQS  1903,  37,  125. 


188 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


by  the  Egyptians.1  Their  leader  was  a  ' i  ruler  of  the  hill- 
country,  Absha, ' 1  a  name  well  known  in  Hebrew  as  Abshai. 2 
The  unfortunate  noble,  Sinuhe,  who  fled  to  Syria  at  the 
death  of  Amenemhet  I,  found  not  far  over  the  border  a 
friendly  sheik,  who  had  been  in  Egypt,  further  north  he 
found  Egyptians  abiding.3  While  a  fortress  existed  at  the 
Delta  frontier  to  keep  out  the  marauding  Beduin,4  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  it  was  no  more  a  hindrance  to  legitimate 
trade  and  intercourse  than  was  the  blockade  against  the 
negroes  maintained  by  Sesostris  III  at  the  second  cataract. 
This  Suez  region  and  likewise  the  Gulf  of  Suez  were 
already  connected  with  the  eastern  arm  of  the  Nile  by  canal, 
the  earliest  known  connection  between  the  Mediterranean 
and  the  Red  Sea.  Fragmentary  but  massive  remains  of 
the  temple  buildings  erected  by  this  dynasty  in  the  cities 
of  the  northeastern  Delta,  like  Tanis  and  Nebesheh,  show 
their  activity  in  this  region.  The  needs  of  the  Semitic 
tribes  of  neighbouring  Asia  were  already  those  of  highly 
civilized  peoples  and  gave  ample  occasion  for  trade.  The 
tribesmen  in  the  Benihasan  tomb  wear  garments  of  finely 
patterned,  woven,  woolen  stuff  and  sandals  of  leather,  carry 
metal  weapons  and  use  a  richly  wrought  lyre.  Already  the 
red  pottery  produced  by  the  Hittite  peoples  in  Cappadocia, 
of  Asia  Minor,  was  possibly  finding  its  way  to  the  Semites  of 
southern  Palestine.  Doubtless  the  commerce  along  this  route, 
through  Palestine,  over  Carmel  and  northward  to  the  trade- 
routes  leading  down  the  Euphrates  to  Babylon,  while  not  yet 
heavy,  was  already  long  existent.  Commerce  with  southern 
Europe  had  also  begun.  The  peoples  of  the  ^Egean,  whose 
civilization  was  now  rapidly  developing  into  that  of  the  My- 
cenaean age,  were  not  unknown  in  Egypt  at  this  time.  They 
were  called  Haunebu,  and  a  treasurer  of  the  Eleventh  Dy- 
nasty, whose  duty  was  the  maintenance  of  safe  frontier 
ports,  boasts  of  himself  as  one  "who  quells  the  Haunebu."5 
This  shows  that  their  intercourse  with  Egypt  was  not  always 

»I,  p.  281,  note  d.         2  II  Sam.,  10:  10.  3  I,  493,  1.  26,  494. 

*I,  493,  11.  16-19.  5 1,  428. 


THE  TWELFTH  DYNASTY 


189 


peaceful.  A  scribe  of  the  time  likewise  boasts  that  his  pen 
included  the  Haunebu  also  in  his  records.  Their  pottery  has 
been  found  at  Kahun  in  burials  of  this  age,  and  the  ^Egean 
decorative  art  of  the  time,  especially  in  its  use  of  spirals,  is 
influenced  by  that  of  Egypt.  Europe  thus  emerges  more 
clearly  upon  the  horizon  of  the  Nile  people  during  the  Middle 
Kingdom. 

While  Sesostris  Ill's  campaign  into  Syria  was  evidently 
no  more  than  a  plundering  expedition,  as  far  from  achieving 
the  conquest  of  the  country  as  were  the  expeditions  of  the 
Sixth  Dynasty  into  Nubia,  nevertheless  it  must  have  added 
much  to  the  reputation  of  his  house.  As  the  first  Pharaoh 
who  had  personally  led  a  campaign  in  a  foreign  land,  the 
Nubian  wars  of  Sesostris  I  had  brought  undying  prestige 
to  the  name,  a  prestige  which  had  been  greatly  increased 
by  the  achievements  of  Sesostris  III.  To  the  name  Sesos- 
tris, therefore,  tradition  attached  the  first  foreign  conquests 
of  the  Pharaohs.  Around  this  name  clustered  forever  after 
the  stories  of  war  and  conquest  related  by  the  people.  In 
Greek  times  Sesostris  had  long  since  become  but  a  legendary 
figure  which  cannot  be  identified  with  any  particular  king. 
That  some  of  the  deeds  of  Rameses  II  were  possibly  also 
interwoven  into  the  Greek  legend  of  Sesostris  is  not  the 
slightest  reason  for  identifying  Sesostris  with  that  Nine- 
teenth Dynasty  king;  nor,  we  repeat,  will  the  preposterous 
deeds  narrated  of  the  legendary  Sesostris  permit  of  his  iden- 
tification with  any  particular  historical  king. 

For  thirty  eight  years  Sesostris  III  continued  his  vig- 
ourous  rule  of  a  kingdom  which  now  embraced  a  thousand 
miles  ,  of  Nile  valley.  He  had  even  succeeded  in  suppress- 
ing the  feudal  nobles;  and  their  tombs,  as  at  Beni-Hasan 
and  Bersheh,  now  disappear.  As  old  age  drew  on,  he 
appointed  his  son  as  coregent,  and  an  account  of  the 
appointment  was  recorded  on  the  walls  of  the  temple  at 
Arsinoe  in  the  Fayum.    At  Sesostris  Ill's  death  in  1849 


190 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


B.  C,  this  coregent  son  Amenemhet,  the  third  of  the  name, 
seems  to  have  assumed  the  throne  without  difficulty. 

A  number  of  peaceful  enterprises  for  the  prosperity  of 
the  country  and  the  increase  of  the  royal  revenues  were  suc- 
cessfully undertaken  by  Amenemhet  III.  While  operations 
in  the  mines  of  Sinai  had  been  resumed  as  early  as  the  reign 
of  Sesostris  I,  the  foreign  projects  of  the  dynasty  had  else- 
where quite  surpassed  their  achievements  here.  It  remained 
'  for  Amenemhet  III  to  develop  the  equipment  of  the  stations 
in  the  peninsula,  so  that  they  might  become  more  permanent 
than  the  mere  camp  of  an  expedition  while  working  the 
mines  for  a  few  months.  These  expeditions  suffered  great 
hardships  and  an  official  of  the  time  describes  the  difficulties 
which  beset  him  when  some  unlucky  chance  had  decreed  that 
he  should  arrive  there  in  summer.  He  says  that  "  although 
it  was  not  the  season  for  going  to  this  Mine-Land,"  he  went 
without  flinching,  and  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  "the  high- 
lands are  hot  in  summer  and  the  mountains  brand  the  skin, ' ' 
he  encouraged  his  workmen  who  complained  of  "this  evil 
summer  season,"  and  having  accomplished  the  work  brought 
back  more  than  had  been  required  of  him.  He  left  a  stela  1 
there  telling  of  his  experience  and  encouraging  those  of  his 
posterity  who  might  find  themselves  in  a  similar  predica- 
ment. Under  such  conditions  permanent  wells  and  cisterns, 
barracks  for  the  workmen,  houses  for  the  directing  officials, 
and  fortifications  against  the  marauding  Beduin  were  indis- 
pensable. While  some  of  these  things  may  have  been 
already  furnished  by  his  predecessors,  Amenemhet  III  made 
the  station  at  Sarbut  el-Khadem  a  well  equipped  colony  for 
the  exploitation  of  the  mineral  wealth  of  the  mountains.  He 
excavated  a  large  cistern  in  the  rocks  and  opened  it  with 
festival  celebrations  in  his  forty  fourth  year.2  A  temple 
for  the  local  Hathor  was  erected,  and  we  find  an  official  of 
the  treasury  journeying  thither  with  offerings  by  water,  a 
fact  which  shows  that  the  Gulf  of  Suez  was  commonly  util- 
ized to  avoid  the  wearisome  desert  journey.3    The  mines 

i  I,  733-740.       2  1,  725-727.         3  I,  717-718;  similar  offerings  I,  738. 


THE  TWELFTH  DYNASTY 


191 


were  placed  each  under  charge  of  a  foreman,  after  whom 
it  was  named,  and  at  periodic  visits  of  the  treasury  officials 
a  fixed  amount  of  ore  was  expected  from  each  mine.1  The 
occasional  raids  of  the  neighbouring  Beduin  were  doubtless 
of  little  consequence  in  view  of  the  troops  still  controlled  by 
the  "treasurer  of  the  god,"  who  could  easily  disperse  the 
plundering  bands  that  might  venture  too  close  to  the  colony. 
Here  Egyptians  died  and  were  buried  in  the  burning  valley 
with  all  the  equipment  customary  at  home,  and  the  ruins  still 
surviving  (Fig.  85)  show  that  what  had  before  been  but  an 
intermittent  and  occasional  effort  had  now  become  a  perma- 
nent and  uninterrupted  industry,  contributing  a  fixed  annual 
amount  to  the  royal  treasury. 

It  is  doubtless  true  that  the  circumstances  in  which  these 
kings  of  the  feudal  period  found  themselves  forced  them  to 
seek  new  sources  of  wealth  outside  of  the  country;  but  at 
the  same  time,  as  we  have  before  intimated,  they  raised  the 
productive  capacity  of  the  land  to  an  unprecedented  level. 
Unfortunately,  the  annals  or  records  of  these  achievements 
have  not  survived.  It  was  particularly  Amenemhet  III  of 
whom  we  have  evidence  of  attention  to  the  irrigation  system. 
His  officials  in  the  fortress  of  Semneh  at  the  second  cataract 
had  instructions  to  record  the  height  of  the  Nile  on  the 
rocks  there,  which  thus  in  a  few  years  became  a  nilometer, 
recording  the  maximum  level  of  the  high  water  from  year 
to  year.  These  records,2  still  preserved  upon  the  rocks,  are 
from  twenty  five  to  thirty  feet  higher  than  the  Nile  rises  at 
the  present  day.  Such  observations,  communicated  without 
delay  to  the  officials  of  lower  Egypt  in  the  vizier's  office, 
enabled  them  to  estimate  the  crops  of  the  coming  season^ 
and  the  rate  of  taxation  was  fixed  accordingly. 

In  Lower  Egypt  a  plan  was  also  devised  for  extending 
the  time  during  which  the  waters  of  the  inundation  could 
be  made  available  by  an  enormous  scheme  of  irrigation, 
which  was  carried  out  with  brilliant  success.  A  glance  at  the 

»i,  731. 

2  LD  II,  139;  Lepsius,  Sitzungsber.  der  Berliner  Akad.  1844,  374  ff„ 


192 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


map  (No.  13)  will  show  the  reader  an  opening  in  the  western 
highlands  of  the  Nile  valley  some  sixty  five  miles  above  the 
southern  apex  of  the  Delta.  This  gap  in  the  western  hills 
leads  into  the  great  depression  of  the  Libyan  desert  known 
as  the  Fayum,  a  basin  which  does  not  differ  from  those  of 
the  western  oases,  and  is  indeed  an  extensive  oasis  close  to 
the  Nile  valley,  with  which  it  is  connected  by  the  gap  already 


Map  3.    The  Fayum.     (After  Maj.  R.  H.  Brown,  R.E.) 


mentioned.  Shaped  like  a  huge  maple-leaf,  of  which  the 
stem,  pointing  nearly  eastward,  represents  the  connection 
with  the  Nile  valley,  it  is  generally  speaking  about  forty 
miles  across  each  way.  Its  lower  tracts  in  the  northwest, 
occupied  to-day  by  the  lake  called  Birket  el-Kurun  (Fig. 
86),  are  very  much  depressed,  the  surface  of  the  lake  at 


1 


Fig.  86.— VIEW  ACROSS  THE  BIRKET  EL-KURUN  IN  THE  NORTHWESTERN  FA  YUM. 


Fig.  87—OBELISK  OF  SESOSTRIS  I  AT  Fig.  88— WOODEN  STATUE  OF  PRINCE 

HELIOPOLIS.  EWIBRE.    (Cairo  Museum.) 

(Stereograph  copyright  by  Underwood  &  Under- 
wood, N.  Y.) 


THE  TWELFTH  DYNASTY 


193 


present  being  over  one  hundred  and  forty  feet  below  sea- 
level.  In  prehistoric  times  the  high  Nile  had  filled  the  entire 
Fayura  basin,  producing  a  considerable  lake.  The  kings  of 
the  Twelfth  Dynasty  conceived  the  plan  of  controlling  the 
inflow  and  outflow  for  the  benefit  of  the  irrigation  system 
then  in  force.  At  the  same  time  they  undertook  vast  reten- 
tion walls  inside  the  Fayum  at  the  point  where  the  waters 
entered,  in  order  to  reclaim  some  of  the  area  of  the  Fayum 
for  cultivation.  The  earlier  kings  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty 
began  this  process  of  reclamation,  but  it  was  especially  Ame- 
nemhet  III  who  so  extended  this  vast  wall  that  it  was  at  last 
probably  about  twenty  seven  miles  long,  thus  reclaiming 
a  final  total  of  twenty  seven  thousand  acres.1  These  enor- 
mous works  at  the  point  where  the  lake  was  most  commonly 
visited  gave  the  impression  that  the  whole  body  of  water 
was  an  artificial  product,  excavated,  as  Strabo  says,  by  king 
1 '  Lamares, ' '  in  which  we  recognize  with  certainty  the  throne 
name  of  Amenemhet  III.  This  then  was  the  famous  lake 
Moeris  of  the  classic  geographers  and  travellers.  Strabo, 
the  most  careful  ancient  observer  of  the  lake,  supports  the 
vaguer  description  of  Herodotus,  and  states  that  during  the 
time  of  high  Nile,  the  waters  replenished  the  lake  through 
the  canal  which  still  flows  through  the  gap;  but  that  when 
the  river  fell  again,  they  were  allowed  to  escape  through 
the  same  canal,  and  employed  in  irrigation.  Strabo  saw  the 
regulators  for  controlling  the  inflow  and  the  outflow  as  well. 
The  attention  given  the  Fayum  by  Amenemhet  III  would 
indicate  that  this  system  of  control  was  at  least  as  old  as  the 
works  near  the  entrance  of  the  famous  lake  which  gave  him 
the  reputation  of  having  excavated  it.  Modern  calculations 
have  shown  that  enough  water  could  have  been  accumulated 
to  double  the  volume  of  the  river  below  the  Fayum  during 
the  hundred  days  of  low  Nile  from  the  first  of  April  on.2 

The  rich  and  flourishing  province  recovered  from  the  lake 
was  doubtless  royal  domain,  and  there  are  evidences  that  it 

1  Maj.  R.  H.  Brown,  R.E.    The  Fayum  and  Lake  Moeris,  London,  1892. 
*  Ibid. 

13 


194 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


was  a  favourite  place  of  abode  with  the  kings  of  the  latter  part 
of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty.  A  prosperous  town,  known  to  the 
Greeks  as  Crocodilopolis,  or  Arsinoe,  with  its  temple  to  Sobk, 
the  crocodile-god,  had  already  arisen  in  the  new  province, 
and  an  obelisk  of  Sesostris  I  lies  at  Ebgig  far  out  in  the 
heart  of  the  reclaimed  land.  Two  colossal  statues  of  Ame- 
nemhet  III,  or  at  least  of  the  king  reputed  to  be  the  maker 
of  the  lake  in  Herodotus 's  time,  stood  just  outside  the  great 
wall  in  the  midst  of  the  waters.  In  the  gap,  on  the  north 
bank  of  the  inflowing  canal,  was  a  vast  building,  some  eight 
hundred  by  a  thousand  feet,  which  formed  a  kind  of  relig- 
ious and  administrative  centre  for  the  whole  country.  It 
contained  a  set  of  halls  for  each  nome  where  its  gods  were 
enshrined  and  worshipped,  and  the  councils  of  its  govern- 
ment gathered  from  time  to  time.  It  would  seem  from  the 
remarks  of  Strabo  that  each  set  of  halls  was  thus  the  office 
of  the  central  government  pertaining  to  the  administration 
of  the  respective  nome,  and  the  whole  building  was  there- 
fore the  Pharaoh's  seat  of  government  for  the  entire  coun- 
try. It  was  still  standing  in  Strabo 's  time,  when  it  had 
already  long  been  known  as  the  Labyrinth,  one  of  the 
wonders  of  Egypt,  famous  among  travellers  and  historians 
of  the  Graeco-Roman  world,  who  compared  its  intricate  com- 
plex of  halls  and  passages  with  the  Cretan  Labyrinth  of 
Greek  tradition.  It  is  the  only  building  of  this  remote  age, 
not  exclusively  a  temple,  known  to  have  survived  so  long; 
and  Strabo 's  description  of  its  construction  accounts  for  its 
durability,  for  he  says:  "It  is  a  marvellous  fact  that  each 
of  the  ceilings  of  the  chambers  consists  of  a  single  stone,  and 
also  that  the  passages  are  covered  in  the  same  way  with 
single  slabs  of  extraordinary  size,  neither  wood  nor  other 
building  material  having  been  employed. ' '  The  town  which 
had  grown  up  around  this  remarkable  building  was  seen 
by  Strabo;  but  both  have  now  completely  disappeared. 
Sesostris  II  had  also  founded  a  town  just  outside  the  gap 
called  Hotep-Sesostris,  "Sesostris  is  Contented,"  and  he 
later  built  his  pyramid  beside  it.    Under  these  circum- 


THE  TWELFTH  DYNASTY 


195 


stances  the  Fayum  had  become  the  most  prominent  centre  of 
the  royal  and  governmental  life  of  this  age;  and  its  great 
god  Sobkwas  rivalling  Amon  in  the  regard  of  the  dynasty, 
whose  last  representative  bore  the  name  Sobk-nefru-Re, 
which  contains  that  of  the  god.  The  name  of  the  god 
also  appeared  in  a  whole  series  of  Sobk-hoteps  of  the  next 
dynasty. 

For  nearly  half  a  century  the  beneficent  rule  of  Ame- 
nemhet  III  maintained  peace  and  prosperity  throughout 
his  flourishing  kingdom.    The  people  sang  of  him : 

"He  makes  the  Two  Lands  verdant  more  than  a  great  Nile. 
He  hath  filled  the  Two  Lands  with  strength. 
He  is  life,  cooling  the  nostrils; 


The  treasures  which  he  gives  are  food  for  those  who  are  in  his 

following ; 
He  feeds  those  who  tread  his  path. 
The  king  is  food  and  his  mouth  is  increase."1 

Business  was  on  a  sound  basis,  values  were  determined  in 
terms  of  weight  in  copper,  and  it  was  customary  to  append 
to  the  mention  of  an  article  the  words  "of  x  deben  [of 
copper],"  a  deben  being  1404  grains.2  Throughout  the  land 
the  evidences  of  this  prosperity  under  Amenemhet  III  and 
his  predecessors  still  survive  in  the  traces  of  their  extensive 
building  enterprises,  although  these  have  so  suffered  from 
the  rebuilding  under  the  Empire  that  they  are  but  a  tithe 
of  what  was  once  to  be  seen.  Moreover  the  vandalism  of 
the  Nineteenth  Dynasty,  especially  under  Eamses  II,  oblit- 
erated priceless  records  of  the  Middle  Kingdom  by  the  most 
reckless  appropriation  of  its  monuments  as  building  mate- 
rial. Probably  all  the  more  important  towns  of  the  country 
had  received  modest  temples  at  the  hands  of  the  Old  King 
dom  Pharaohs,  but  these  have  left  almost  no  trace,  and  we 
can  gain  no  comprehensive  picture  of  what  the  Twelfth 
Dynasty  may  have  found  throughout  the  country  when  they 

1  I,  747.  «  I,  785. 


196 


A  HISTORY   OF  EGYPT 


began  their  own  works.  At  Thebes,  their  home,  which  was 
only  an  obscure  village  in  the  Old  Kingdom,  they  found  but 
a  modest  chapel,  which  they  replaced  with  a  more  preten- 
tious temple  of  Amon,  already  begun  by  Amenemhet  I.1  It 
was  continued  or  enlarged  by  Sesostris  I,  who  also  built  a 
dwelling  and  refectory  for  the  priests  of  the  temple2  beside 
the  sacred  lake,  a  building  which  was  still  standing  eight 
hundred  years  later.3  Amenemhet  III  erected  the  great 
brick  wall  around  the  ancient  capital  of  El  Kab  (Nekheb),4 
which  still  stands,  as  the  only  city  wall  of  such  age  now  sur- 
viving in  a  condition  so  nearly  intact  ( Fig.  102 ) .  The  ancient 
temple  at  Edfu  was  not  forgotten ;  while  at  Abydos  the  wide 
popularity  and  deep  veneration  of  Osiris  demanded  a  new 
temple,  which  was  surrounded  with  an  enclosure,  within 
which  for  some  time  the  rich  and  noble  were  permitted  to 
erect  their  tombs.5  The  vicinity  of  the  Fayum,  as  well  as 
its  own  traditional  sanctity,  secured  also  for  the  temple  of 
Harsaphes  at  Heracleopolis  enlargement  and  a  rich  equip- 
ment. 6  Of  the  Fayum  itself  we  have  already  spoken.  Mem- 
phis and  its  ancient  god  Ptah  were  doubtless  not  neglected, 
but  chance  has  left  little  evidence  of  the  activity  of  the 
Middle  Kingdom  there.  The  vicinity  of  Ithtowe  and  the 
other  royal  residences  of  the  time  may  have  detracted  some- 
what from  its  prominence.  The  supreme  god  of  the  state, 
the  ancestor  and  at  the  same  time  immediate  father  of  the 
Pharaohs,  was  of  necessity  honoured  with  rich  contributions 
from  the  beginning.  Sesostris  I  held  a  council  at  which 
he  announced  to  the  court  his  intention  of  rebuilding  the 
temple  of  Re  at  Heliopolis  as  soon  as  the  plans  could  be 
prepared.  According  to  immemorial  custom,  he  himself  led 
the  ceremonies  when  the  ground  plan  was  staked  out  and 
the  foundations  of  the  building  were  begun.  The  dedicatory 
inscription,  in  which  he  recorded  the  history  of  the  building, 
perished  long  ago,  but  a  scribe's  practice  copy  of  it,  as  it 
stood  in  the  court  of  the  temple  some  five  hundred  years 

i  I,  484.  1  IV,  488-9.  3  Ibid. 

*  I,  741-2.  ■  I,  534,  note  b.  6  I,  674-5 


Fig.  89.— HEAD   OF   AMENEMHET    III,    FROM  A 
SPHINX  FOUND  AT  TAN  IS. 


Fig.  90.-BUST  OF  A  STATUE  OP 
AMENEMHET  III. 


(St.  Petersburg  Museum.) 


Fig.  91. -BRICK  PYRAMID  OF  SESOSTRIS  II,  AT  ILLAHUN. 


THE  TWELFTH  DYNASTY 


197 


after  its  erection,  still  survives  in  a  leather  roll  in  the  Berlin 
Museum.1  In  exaggerated  metaphor  Sesostris  I  boasts  of 
the  imperishability  of  his  name,  as  enshrined  in  the  mas- 
sive monument,  saying : 

* 1  My  beauty  shall  be  remembered  in  his  house, 
My  name  is  the  pyramidion,  and  my  name  is  the  lake."3 

The  splendid  temples  of  Heliopolis  and  the  great  city 
which  surrounded  them  have  all  vanished,  and  with  them  the 
sacred  lake  to  which  Sesostris  refers,  but  by  a  curious  chance 
the  only  surviving  monument  on  the  ancient  site  is  one  of 
his  obelisks  (Fig.  87),  still  surmounted  by  the  pyramidion, 
which,  as  the  king  boasted,  has  indeed  perpetuated  his  name. 
The  Delta  blossomed  under  these  enlightened  rulers,  re- 
freshed as  it  was  by  the  waters  of  the  Fayum  lake  which 
their  foresight  stored  up  for  summer  use.  All  the  Delta 
cities  of  all  ages,  as  we  have  so  often  mentioned,  have  per- 
ished, and  but  little  survives  to  testify  to  the  activity  of 
these  kings  there,  but  in  the  eastern  part,  especially  at  Tanis 
and  Bubastis  (Fig.  93),  massive  remains  still  show  the  inter- 
est which  the  Twelfth  Dynasty  manifested  in  the  Delta 
cities.  Fragmentary  remains  of  temples  built  by  the  mon- 
archs  of  this  line  have  been  found  at  many  of  the  chief  towns 
from  the  first  cataract  to  the  northwestern  Delta.  Besides 
the  great  works  of  the  kings,  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that 
the  wealthier  and  more  powerful  of  the  nomarchs  also 
erected  temples3  and  considerable  buildings  for  purposes 
of  government.4  Chapels  for  their  mortuary  service  were 
built  in  the  towns, 5  and  had  the  various  structures  due  to 
these  great  lords  survived,  there  is  no  doubt  that  they  would 
have  added  materially  to  our  impressions  of  the  solidity  and 
splendour  with  which  the  economic  life  of  the  nation  was 
developing  on  every  hand. 

Such  impressions  are  also  strengthened  by  the  tombs  of 
the  time,  which  are  indeed  the  only  buildings  which  have 
survived  from  the  feudal  age;  and  even  these  are  in  a  sad 

11,498-506.         2  1,503.         »  I,  637,  note  a.      « I,  637.  6  I,  706. 


198 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


state  of  ruin.  We  have  already  referred  to  the  survival  of 
the  mastaba  form  of  tomb,  but  it  was  now  fast  disappearing 
and  the  nobles  were  hewing  out  their  burial  chambers  and 
the  shafts  descending  to  them  in  the  cliffs  of  the  valley. 
The  chapel-hall  connected  with  such  burials,  with  its  scenes 
from  the  life  and  activity  of  the  departed  noble,  are  our 
chief  source  for  the  history  and  life  of  the  feudal  age.  The 
colonnade  which  sometimes  formed  the  front  of  such  a  tomb 
was  not  without  architectural  merit.  The  pyramids  of  the 
Twelfth  Dynasty  kings  are  eloquent  testimony  to  the  fact 
that  the  construction  of  the  royal  tomb  was  no  longer  the 
chief  office  of  the  state.  More  wholesome  views  of  the  func- 
tion of  the  kingship  have  now  gained  the  ascendancy  and 
the  resources  of  the  nation  are  no  longer  absorbed  in  the 
pyramid  as  in  the  Old  Kingdom.  In  the  Eleventh  Dynasty 
the  Theban  kings  had  already  returned  to  the  original  mate- 
rial of  the  royal  tomb  and  built  their  unpretentious  pyramids 
of  brick.  Amenemhet  I  followed  their  example  in  the  erec- 
tion of  his  pyramid  at  Lisht ;  the  core  was  of  brick  masonry 
and  the  monument  was  then  protected  by  casing  masonry 
of  limestone1  (Fig.  94).  The  custom  was  continued  by  all 
the  kings  of  the  dynasty  with  one  exception.  Their  pyra- 
mids are  scattered  from  the  mouth  of  the  Fayum  northward 
to  Dashur,  just  south  of  Memphis.  Sesostris  I  preferred  to 
lie  at  Lisht  beside  his  illustrious  father ;  Amenemhet  II  was 
the  first  to  go  northward  to  Dashur,  and  his  son,  Sesostris 
II,  selected  his  new  town,  Hotep-Sesostris,  now  Illahun,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Fayum,  as  the  site  of  his  pyramid  (Fig. 
91).  Sesostris  III  returned  to  Dashur,  where  he  located  his 
pyramid  on  the  north  of  that  of  Amenemhet  II,  while  Ame- 
nemhet III  (Fig.  94)  lies  on  the  south  side  of  Amenemhet  IPs 
pyramid.  The  pyramid  of  Hawara,  in  the  Fayum  beside  the 
Labyrinth,  formerly  supposed  to  be  that  of  Amenemhet  III, 
is  not  certainly  identified,  and  may  possibly  belong  to  Ame- 
nemhet IV,  the  only  king  of  the  dynasty  whose  pyramid  is 

1Mem.  sur  les  Fouilles  de  Licht,  par  J.  E.  Gautier  et  G.  J^quier,  Cairot 
1902. 


THE  TWELFTH  DYNASTY 


199 


not  located  with  certainty.  All  these  pyramids  show  the 
most  complicated  and  ingenious  arrangements  of  entrance 
and  passages  in  order  to  baffle  the  tomb-robbers.  That  of 
Hawara  is  the  most  notable  in  this  respect.  It  was  some- 
thing over  one  hundred  and  ninety  feet  high  and  the  base 
was  nearly  three  hundred  and  thirty  four  feet  square. 
The  entrance  is  in  the  middle  of  the  western  half  of 


Fig.  92.    Section  of  the  Burial  Chamber  in  the  Pyramid  of  Hawaba. 

(After  Petrie.) 

the  south  side  and  descending  into  the  rock  beneath  the 
pyramid  it  turns  four  times  until  it  approaches  the  burial 
chamber  from  the  north  side.  Three  amazing  trapdoor- 
blocks  of  enormous  size  and  weight  were  intended  to  with- 
stand the  attacks  of  robbers,  while  numerous  cunning  and 
misleading  devices  were  inserted  to  puzzle  the  marauders. 
The  sepulchre  chamber  is  twenty  two  feet  long,  eight  feet 
wide  and  six  feet  high,  but  is  nevertheless  cut  from  a  single 
block  of  intensely  hard  quartzite,  weighing  110  tons.  It  had 
no  door  and  the  onlv  means  of  access  was  through  a  roofing 


200 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


block  weighing  some  forty  five  tons.1  Nevertheless  it  was 
entered  and  robbed  in  antiquity,  doubtless  with  the  conni- 
vance of  later  officials,  or  even  of  the  later  kings  themselves. 
The  corruption  of  the  officials  in  charge  of  the  erection  of 
the  building  is  evident  in  the  fact  that  of  the  three  trapdoor- 
blocks  they  only  closed  the  outer  one,  knowing  full  well 
that  with  this  one  closed  no  member  of  the  royal  family  could 
possibly  discover  that  the  inner  ones  had  been  left  open. 
The  failure  of  these  magnificent  structures  to  protect  the 
bodies  of  their  builders  must  have  had  something  to  do  with 
the  gradual  discontinuance  of  pyramid  building  which  now 
ensued.  Henceforward,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  small 
pyramids  at  Thebes,  we  shall  meet  no  more  of  these  remark- 
able tombs,  which,  stretching  in  a  desultory  line  along  the 
margin  of  the  western  desert  for  sixty  five  miles  above  the 
southern  apex  of  the  Delta,  are  the  most  impressive  surviv- 
ing witnesses  to  the  grandeur  of  the  civilization  which  pre- 
ceded the  Empire. 

Unfortunately  the  buildings  of  the  Middle  Kingdom  are 
so  fragmentary  that  we  can  gain  little  idea  of  their  archi- 
tecture. From  the  tombs,  however,  it  is  evident  that  the 
architectural  elements  employed  did  not  differ  materially 
from  those  which  we  have  already  found  in  the  Old  King- 
dom. The  Theban  Pharaohs  of  the  Eleventh  Dynasty  in- 
troduced a  new  type  in  the  remarkable  terraced  temple  of 
Der  el-Bahri,  which  served  as  a  model  to  the  great  architects 
of  the  Empire.  The  few  traces  of  the  Labyrinth  which  enabled 
Petrie  to  determine  the  extent  of  its  ground-plan,  and  the 
description  furnished  by  Strabo,  are  sufficient  to  establish 
little  more  than  the  massiveness  of  its  style.  The  domestic 
architecture  has  also  completely  perished.  From  the  plan 
of  the  town  which  Petrie  found  by  the  pyramid  of  Sesostris 
II  at  Illahun  (Map  1)  we  gain  only  an  impression  of  the  con- 
tracted quarters  in  which  the  workmen  of  the  time  were 
obliged  to  live,  but  of  the  houses  of  the  rich,  in  which  there 

1  Petrie,  Kahun,  Gurob  and  Hawara,  pp.  13-17. 


THE  TWELFTH  DYNASTY 


201 


was  opportunity  for  architectural  effect,  we  have  very  little 
knowledge. 

Art  had  made  a  certain  kind  of  progress  since  the  Old 
Kingdom.  Sculpture  had  become  much  more  ambitious 
and  attempted  works  of  the  most  impressive  size.  The 
statues  of  Amenemhet  III,  which  overlooked  Lake  Moeris, 
were  probably  forty  or  fifty  feet  high,  and  we  have  already 
referred  to  the  alabaster  colossus  of  Thuthotep,  the  nomarch 
of  the  Hare-nome,  which  was  some  twenty  two  feet  high. 
These  colossi,  furthermore,  were  now  produced  in  greater 
numbers  than  ever  before.  Ten  such  portraits  of  Ame- 
nemhet I  (Fig.  95)  were  found  at  his  pyramid  at  Lisht,  and 
Sihathor,  an  assistant  treasurer  of  Amenemhet  II,  records 
with  great  pride  how  he  was  entrusted  with  the  oversight 
of  the  work  on  the  sixteen  statues  of  the  king  for  his  pyramid 
at  Dashur.1  Fragments  of  such  colossi  in  massive  granite 
are  scattered  over  the  ruins  of  Tanis  (Fig.  93)  and  Bubastis, 
and  we  recall  that  Sesostris  III  erected  his  statue  on  the 
southern  Nubian  border.2  Under  such  circumstances  the 
royal  sculptors  could  not  but  betray  to  some  extent  the  me- 
chanical and  imitative  spirit  in  which  they  worked.  Their 
figures  rarely  possess  the  striking  vivacity  and  the  strong 
individuality  which  are  so  characteristic  of  the  Old  Kingdom 
sculpture.  The  long  dominant  canons  are  also  showing 
their  effect  in  suppressing  the  individuality  of  the  sculptor's 
work  and  manner.  We  find  a  king  searching  the  ancient 
rolls  to  ascertain  the  form  of  a  god,  that  he  might  "fashion 
him  as  he  was  formerly,  when  they  made  the  statues  in  their 
council,  in  order  to  establish  their  monuments  upon  earth";5 
from  which  it  is  evident  that  the  gods  were  supposed  to  have 
held  a  council  in  the  beginning,  at  which  they  determined 
for  all  time  exactly  the  form  and  appearance  of  each.  With 
the  form  of  the  king  and  his  nobles  the  same  inviolable  tradi- 
tion ruled,  and  the  art  of  the  Middle  Kingdom  no  longer  pos- 
sessed the  freshness  and  vigour  necessary  to  accept  these  con- 
ventions and  at  the  same  time  to  triumph  completely  over 

1I,  601.  2 1,  G60.  3  1,  756. 


202 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


them  as  did  the  sculptors  of  the  Old  Kingdom.  Neverthe- 
less, there  is  now  and  then  a  portrait  of  surprising  strength 
and  individuality,  like  the  superb  statue  of  Amenemhet  III 
(Fig.  90)  in  St.  Petersburg,  the  head  of  the  same  king  as  a 
sphinx  at  Tanis  (Fig.  89),  or  the  colossal  head  of  Sesostris 
III  recently  unearthed  at  Karnak.  Such  heads  are  master- 
pieces of  Egyptian  art,  embodying  those  qualities  of  super- 
human strength  and  imperturbable  calm,  of  which  the  Egyp- 
tian sculptor  was  so  completely  master.  The  flesh-forms 
have  been  so  summarized  in  the  exquisitely  hard  medium 
that  something  of  the  eternal  immobility  of  the  stone  itself 
has  been  wrought  into  the  features  of  the  great  king.  Such 
work  contrasts  sharply  with  the  soft  and  effeminate  beauty 
of  the  wooden  figure  of  prince  Ewibre  (Fig.  88).  The 
chapels  in  the  cliff -tombs  of  the  nomarchs  were  elaborately 
decorated  with  paintings  depicting  the  life  of  the  deceased 
and  the  industries  on  his  great  estates.  It  cannot  be  said  that 
these  paintings,  excellent  as  many  of  them  unquestionably 
are,  show  any  progress  over  those  of  the  Old  Kingdom,  while 
as  flat  relief  they  are  for  the  most  part  distinctly  inferior  to 
the  earlier  work. 

The  close  and  familiar  oversight  of  the  nomarch  lent  a 
distinct  impetus  to  the  arts  and  crafts,1  and  the  provinces 
developed  large  numbers  of  skilled  craftsmen  throughout 
the  country.  Naturally  the  artisans  of  the  court  were  unsur- 
passed. We  discern  in  their  work  the  result  of  the  devel- 
opment which  had  been  going  on  since  the  days  of  the 
earliest  dynasties.  The  magnificent  jewelry  (Figs.  97-8) 
of  the  princesses  of  the  royal  house  displays  both  technical 
skill  and  refined  taste,  quite  surpassing  our  anticipations. 
Had  the  tomb  robbers  of  the  Dashur  necropolis  not  over- 
looked these  burials  we  should  never  have  rated  the  capaci- 
ties of  the  Middle  Kingdom  so  high.  Little  ever  produced 
by  the  later  gold-smiths  of  Europe  can  surpass  either  in 
beauty  or  in  workmanship  these  regal  ornaments  worn  by 

» I,  638. 


THE  TWELFTH  DYNASTY 


203 


the  daughters  of  the  house  of  Amenemhet  nearly  two  thou- 
sand years  before  Christ. 

Literature  also  left  worthy  monuments  to  witness  the  rich 
and  varied  life  of  this  great  age.  We  have  seen  how  the 
art  of  writing  was  fostered  by  the  administrative  necessities 
of  the  state.  A  system  of  uniform  orthography,  hitherto 
lacking,  was  now  developed  and  followed  by  skilled  scribes 
with  consistency.  A  series  of  model  letters1  studied  by  the 
school-boys  of  the  twentieth  century  B.  C.  has  survived,  and 
they  show  with  what  pains  composition  was  studied.  The 
language  of  this  age  and  its  literary  products  were  in  later 
times  regarded  as  classic,  and  in  spite  of  its  excessive  arti- 
ficialities, the  judgment  of  modern  study  confirms  that  of 
the  Empire.  Although  it  unquestionably  existed  earlier,  it 
is  in  Egypt  and  in  this  period  that  we  first  find  a  literature 
of  entertainment.  The  unfortunate  noble,  Sinuhe,  who  fled 
into  Syria  on  the  death  of  Amenemhet  I,  returned  to  Egypt 
in  his  old  age,  and  the  story  of  his  flight,  of  his  life  and 
adventures  in  Asia  became  a  favourite  tale,2  which  attained 
such  popularity  that  it  was  even  written  on  sherds  and  flags 
of  stone  to  be  placed  in  the  tomb  for  the  entertainment  of 
the  dead  in  the  hereafter.  A  prototype  of  Sindebad  the 
Sailor,  who  was  shipwrecked  in  southern  waters  on  the 
voyage  to  Punt,  returned  with  a  tale  of  marvellous  adven- 
tures on  the  island  of  the  serpent  queen  where  he  was  res- 
cued, and  loaded  with  wealth  and  favours,  was  sent  safely 
back  to  his  native  land.3  The  life  of  the  court  and  the  nobles 
found  reflection  among  the  people  in  folk-tales,  narrating 
the  great  events  in  the  dynastic  transitions  and  a  tale  of  the 
rise  of  the  Fifth  Dynast;^  was  now  in  common  circulation, 
although  our  surviving  copy  4  was  written  a  century  or  two 
after  the  fall  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty.  The  most  skilled  lit- 
erati of  the  time  delighted  to  employ  the  popular  tale  as  a 

^ahun  Papyri,  pp.  67-70.  2  I,  486-497. 

3  Unpublished  papyrus  in  St.  Petersburg;  see  Golenischeff,  Abh.  dee 
Berliner  Orientalistenkongresses. 

*  Papyrus  Westcar,  Berlin,  P.  3033, 


204 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


medium  for  the  exercise  of  their  skill  in  the  artificial  style 
now  regarded  as  the  aim  of  all  composition.  A  story  com- 
monly known  at  the  present  day  as  the  Tale  of  the  Eloquent 
Peasant  was  composed  solely  in  order  to  place  in  the  mouth 
of  a  marvellous  peasant  a  series  of  speeches  in  which  he 
pleads  his  case  against  an  official  who  had  wronged  him,  with 
such  eloquence  that  he  is  at  last  brought  into  the  presence 
of  the  Pharaoh  himself,  that  the  monarch  may  enjoy  the 
beauty  of  the  honeyed  rhetoric  which  flows  from  his  lips. 
Unfortunately  much  of  these  speeches  consists  of  figures  of 
speech  so  far  fetched,  and  poetic  verbiage  so  obscure,  that 
our  modern  knowledge  of  the  language  has  not  yet  made 
them  very  intelligible.1  We  have  already  had  occasion  to 
notice  the  instruction  left  by  the  aged  Amenemhet  I  for  his 
son,  which  was  very  popular  and  has  survived  in  no  less  than 
seven  fragmentary  copies.2  The  instruction  concerning  a 
wise  and  wholesome  manner  of  life,  which  was  so  prized 
by  the  Egyptians,  is  represented  by  a  number  of  composi- 
tions of  this  age,  like  the  advice  of  the  father  to  his  son  on 
the  value  of  the  ability  to  write  ;3  or  the  wisdom  of  the  viziers 
of  the  Old  Kingdom;  although  there  is  no  reason  why  the 
Wisdom  of  Ptahhotep  and  Kegemne,4  preserved  in  a  papyrus 
of  the  Middle  Kingdom,  should  not  be  authentic  composi- 
tions of  these  old  wise  men.  A  remarkable  philosophizing 
treatise  represents  a  man  weary  of  life  involved  in  a  long 
dialogue  with  his  reluctant  soul  as  he  vainly  attempts  to  per- 
suade it  that  they  should  end  life  together  and  hope  for 
better  things  beyond  this  world.5  A  strange  and  obscure 
composition  of  the  time  represents  a  Sibylline  prophet 
named  Ipuwer,  standing  in  the  presence  of  the  king  and 
delivering  grim  prophecies  of  coming  ruin,  in  which  the 
social  and  political  organization  shall  be  overthrown,  the 
poor  shall  become  rich  and  the  rich  shall  suffer  need,  foreign 
enemies  shall  enter  and  the  established  order  of  things  shall 
be  completely  overturned.  After  predicting  frightful  calam- 

i  Berlin  Papyrus  3023  and  3025.  2 1,  474  ft. 

s  Pap.  Sallier  II.  « Pap.  Prisse.       5  Berlin  Papyrus  3024. 


THE  TWELFTH  DYNASTY 


205 


ities  involving  all  classes,  the  prophet  announces  a  saviour 
who  shall  restore  the  land:  "He  shall  bring  cooling  to  the 
flame.  Men  shall  say,  'he  is  the  shepherd  of  all  the  people; 
there  is  no  evil  in  his  heart.  If  his  flocks  go  astray  he  will 
spend  the  day  to  search  them.  The  thought  of  men  shall 
be  aflame;  would  that  he  might  achieve  their  rescue  .  .  .  ' 
Verily  he  shall  smite  evil  when  he  raises  his  arm  against  it. 
.  .  .  Where  is  he  this  day !  Doth  he  sleep  among  you  ? ' ' 1 
In  this  strange  " Messianic' '  oracle  the  prophet  proclaims 
the  coming  of  the  good  king,  who,  like  the  David  of  the 
Hebrew  prophets,  shall  save  his  people.  The  motive  of  the 
composition  may  be  a  skilful  encomium  of  the  reigning 
family,  by  representing  the  prophet  as  depicting  the  anarchy 
which  had  preceded  in  the  dark  age  before  their  rise,  and 
proclaiming  their  advent  to  save  the  people  from  destruction. 
Specimens  of  this  remarkable  class  of  literature,  of  which  this 
is  the  earliest  example,  may  be  traced  as  late  as  the  early 
Christian  centuries,  and  we  cannot  resist  the  conclusion  that 
it  furnished  the  Hebrew  prophets  with  the  form  and  to  a 
surprising  extent  also  with  the  content  of  Messianic  proph- 
ecy. It  remained  for  the  Hebrew  to  give  this  old  form  a 
higher  ethical  and  religious  significance. 

So  many  of  the  compositions  of  the  Egyptian  scribe  are 
couched  in  poetic  language  that  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish 
between  poetry  and  prose.  All  of  the  works  thus  far  dis- 
cussed are  to  a  large  extent  poetry;  but  even  among  the 
common  people  there  were  compositions  which  are  distinc- 
tively poems :  the  song  of  the  threshers  as  they  drove  their 
cattle  to  and  fro  upon  the  threshing-floor,  a  few  simple  lines 
breathing  the  simple  and  wholesome  industry  of  the  people ; 
or  the  lay  of  the  harper  (Fig.  96)  as  he  sings  to  the  ban- 
queters in  the  halls  of  the  rich,— a  song  burdened  with  pre- 
monitions of  the  coming  darkness  and  admonishing  to  un- 
bridled enjoyment  of  the  present  ere  the  evil  day  come: 

1  Leyden  Papyrus  I,  344;  see  Lange,  Sitzungsber.  der  Berliner  Akad. 
XXVII,  001-610. 


206 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


How  happy  is  this  good  prince! 

This  goodly  destiny  is  fulfilled : 

The  body  perishes,  passing  away, 

While  others  abide,  since  the  time  of  the  ancestors. 

The  gods  who  were  aforetime  rest  in  their  pyramids; 

Likewise  the  noble  and  the  wise,  entombed  in  their  pyramids. 

As  for  those  who  built  houses,— their  place  is  no  more; 

Behold  what  hath  become  of  them. 

I  have  heard  the  words  of  Imhotep  and  Harzozef, 

Whose  utterances  are  of  much  reputation; 

Yet  how  are  the  places  thereof? 

Their  walls  are  in  ruin, 

Their  places  are  no  more, — 

As  if  they  had  never  been. 

None  cometh  from  thence, 

That  he  might  tell  us  of  their  state; 

That  he  might  restore  our  hearts, 

Until  we  too  depart  to  the  place, 

Whither  they  have  gone. 

Encourage  thy  heart  to  forget  it, 

And  let  the  heart  dwell  upon  that  which  is  profitable  for  thee. 

Follow  thy  desire  while  thou  livest, 

Lay  myrrh  upon  thy  head, 

Clothe  thee  in  fine  linen, 

Imbued  with  luxurious  perfumes, 

The  genuine  things  of  the  gods. 

Increase  yet  more  thy  delights, 

Let  not  thy  heart  be  weary, 

Follow  thy  desire  and  thy  pleasure, 

And  mould  thine  affairs  on  earth, 

After  the  mandates  of  thy  heart, 

Till  that  day  of  lamentation  cometh  to  thee, 

When  the  stilled  heart  hears  not  their  mourning; 

For  lamentation  recalls  no  man  from  the  tomb. 

Celebrate  the  glad  day ! 

Rest  not  therein ! 

T3~~      x^np  taketh  his  goods  with  him, 

Yea,  no  man  returneth  again,  that  is  gene  Either,, 


THE  TWELFTH  DYNASTY 


207 


The  earliest  known  example  of  poetry  exhibiting  rigid 
strophic  structure  and  all  the  conscious  artificialities  of  lit- 
erary art,  is  a  remarkable  hymn  to  Sesostris  III  written 
during  that  king's  life  time.  Of  the  six  strophes,  the  one 
following  may  serve  to  illustrate  its  character  and  structure : 

Twice  great  is  the  king  of  his  city,  above  a  million  arms:  as  for 

other  rulers  of  men,  they  are  but  common  folk. 
Twice  great  is  the  king  of  his  city :  he  is  as  it  were  a  dyke,  damming 

the  stream  in  its  water  flood. 
Twice  great  is  the  king  of  his  city:  he  is  as  it  were  a  cool  lodge, 

letting  every  man  repose  unto  full  daylight. 
Twice  great  is  the  king  of  his  city :  he  is  as  it  were  a  bulwark,  with 

walls  built  of  sharp  stones  of  Kesem. 
Twice  great  is  the  king  of  his  city:  he  is  as  it  were  a  place  of  refuge, 

excluding  the  marauder. 
Twice  great  is  the  king  of  his  city:  he  is  as  it  were  an  asylum, 

shielding  the  terrified  from  his  foe. 
Twice  great  is  the  king  of  his  city:  he  is  as  it  were  a  shade,  the 

cool  vegetation  of  the  flood  in  the  season  of  harvest. 
Twice  great  is  the  king  of  his  city :  he  is  as  it  were  a  corner  warm 

and  dry  in  time  of  winter. 
Twice  great  is  the  king  of  his  city :  he  is  as  it  were  a  rock  barring 

the  blast  in  time  of  tempest. 
Twice  great  is  the  king  of  his  city :  he  is  as  it  were  Sekhmet  to  foes 

who  tread  upon  his  boundary. 

The  dramatic  presentation  of  the  life  and  death  of  Osiris 
at  Abydos  undoubtedly  demanded  much  dialogue  and  reci- 
tation, which  must  at  least  have  assumed  permanent  form 
and  have  been  committed  to  writing.  Unfortunately  this, 
the  earliest  known  drama,  has  perished.  It  is  characteristic 
of  this  early  world  that  in  neither  the  art  or  the  literature, 
of  which  we  have  a  considerable  mass  from  the  Middle  King- 
dom, can  we  discern  any  individuals  to  whom  these  great 
works  should  be  attributed.  Among  all  the  literary  produc- 
tions which  we  have  enumerated,  it  is  only  of  the  wisdom, 
the  "instruction,"  that  we  know  the  authors.  Of  the  litera- 
ture of  the  age  we  may  say  that  it  now  displays  a  wealth  of 
imagery  and  a  fine  mastery  of  form  which  five  hundred 


208 


A  HISTORY  OP  EGYPT 


years  earlier,  at  the  close  of  the  Old  Kingdom,  was  but  just 
emerging.  The  content  of  the  surviving  works  does  not  dis- 
play evidence  of  constructive  ability  in  the  larger  sense,  in- 
volving both  form  and  content;  it  lacks  general  coherence. 
It  is  possible,  however,  that  the  Osirian  drama,  which  offered 
greater  constructive  opportunity,  might  have  altered  this 
verdict  if  it  had  survived. 

It  was  thus  over  a  nation  in  the  fullness  of  its  powers,  rich 
and  productive  in  every  avenue  of  life,  that  Amenemhet  III 
ruled;  and  his  reign  crowned  the  classic  age  which  had 
dawned  with  the  advent  of  his  family.  He  seems  to  have 
maintained  his  vip*ourous  grasp  of  affairs  to  the  end,  for  he 
completed  the  reservoir  at  Sarbut  el-Khadem  in  Sinai  and 
the  great  wall  of  El  Kab  in  the  forty  fourth  year  of  his  reign. 
But  when  he  passed  away  in  1801  B.  C.  the  strength  of  the 
line  was  waning.  This  was  possibly  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  prince  whom  he  had  selected  as  his  successor  and  ap- 
pointed as  coregent  did  not  survive  the  old  king  himself.  In 
any  case  he  seems  to  have  interred  in  a  tomb  beside  his 
pyramid  a  young  and  handsome  prince  who  already  bore  the 
royal  cartouche,  with  the  throne-name  Evvibre  (Fig.  88). 
But  it  should  be  remarked  that  the  form  of  the  name  is  quite 
unlike  those  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty,  and  there  is  a  king 
Ewibre  of  the  Thirteenth  or  Fourteenth  Dynasty  in  the 
Turin  list.  A  fourth  Amenemhet,  after  a  short  coregency 
with  the  old  king,  succeeded  at  the  death  of  Amenemhet  III, 
but  his  brief  reign  of  a  little  over  nine  years  has  left  few 
monuments,  and  the  decline  of  the  house,  to  whom  the  nation 
owed  two  centuries  of  imperishable  splendour,  was  evident. 
Amenemhet  IV  left  no  son,  for  he  was  succeeded  by  the 
princess  Sebek-nefru-Re,  the  Skemiophris  of  Manetho. 
After  struggling  on  for  nearly  four  years  she  too,  the  last 
of  her  line,  disappeared.  The  family  had  ruled  Egypt  two 
hundred  and  thirteen  years,  one  month  and  some  days. 


BOOK  IV 
THE  HYKSOS: 
THE  RISE  OF  THE  EMPIRE 


CHAPTER  XI 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  MIDDLE  KINGDOM.    THE  HYKSOS. 

The  transition  of  authority  to  another  dynasty  (the  Thir- 
teenth) had  seemingly  taken  place  without  disturbing  the 
tranquil  prosperity  of  the  land.  In  any  case  the  new  house 
immediately  gained  full  control,  and  the  first  king,  Sekhemre- 
Khutowe,  ruled  from  the  Delta1  to  the  southern  frontier  at 
the  second  cataract,  where,  for  the  first  four  years  of  his 
reign,  the  annual  records  of  the  Nile  levels  regularly  ap- 
pear.2 The  fortresses  there  were  garrisoned  under  a  com- 
mandant as  before3  and  the  tax  and  census  lists  were  being 
compiled  in  the  North  as  usual.4  But  the  reign  was  a  short 
one.  The  Pharaohs  who  followed  regarded  themselves  as 
successors  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty  and  assumed  the  names 
of  its  greatest  rulers;  but  this  brought  them  none  of  its 
strength  and  prestige.  The  succession  may  have  lasted 
during  four  reigns,  when  it  was  suddenly  interrupted,  and 
the  list  of  Turin  records  as  fifth  king  after  the  Twelfth 
Dynasty  one  Yufni,  a  name  which  does  not  display  the  royal 
form,  showing  that  at  this  point  the  usurper,  that  ceaseless 
menace  to  the  throne  in  the  orient,  had  again  triumphed. 

Rapid  dissolution  followed,  as  the  provincial  lords  rose 
against  each  other  and  strove  for  the  throne.  Pretender 
after  pretender  struggled  for  supremacy ;  now  and  again  one 
more  able  than  his  rivals  would  gain  a  brief  advantage  and 
wear  his  ephemeral  honours,  only  to  be  quickly  supplanted 
by  another.  Private  individuals  contended  with  the  rest 
and  occasionally  won  the  coveted  goal,  only  to  be  overthrown 
by  a  successful  rival.    Two  Sebekemsafs,  probably  belong- 

«  I,  751.  «I,  751-2.  '  I,  752. 

*  Kahun  Papyri,  pi.  IX,  1.  1 ;  p.  86. 

211 


212 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


ing  at  about  this  time,  left  their  modest  pyramids  at  Thebes, 
for  the  pyramid  of  one  of  them  was  examined  by  the 
Ramessid  commissioners  and  found  robbed.1  The  bodies 
of  the  king  and  his  queen,  Nubkhas,  which  had  laid  undis- 
turbed for  at  least  five  hundred  years,  were  dragged  out 
of  the  coffins,  and  in  a  remarkable  confession  the  thieves 
were  forced  by  the  commissioners  to  tell  how  they  had 
despoiled  the  royal  remains  of  their  ornaments  and  amu- 
lets of  gold  and  costly  stones.2  It  is  thus  certain  that  at 
least  one  group  of  these  obscure  kings  resided  at  Thebes 
and  must  have  been  of  Theban  origin.  At  one  time  a 
usurper  named  Neferhotep  succeeded  in  overthrowing  one 
of  the  many  Sebekhoteps  of  the  time,  and  established  stable 
government.  He  made  no  secret  of  his  origin,  and  on  the 
monuments  added  the  names  of  his  untitled  parents  with- 
out scruple.3  On  a  stela  at  Abydos  he  left  a  remarkable 
record  of  his  zeal  for  the  temple  of  Osiris  there4  and 
another  determining  certain  limits  of  the  necropolis.  He 
reigned  eleven  years  when  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son, 
Sihathor,  who  shortly5  gave  way  to  his  father's  brother, 
Neferkhere-Sebekhotep.  This  Sebekhotep  was  the  greatest 
king  of  this  dark  age.  He  did  not  however  advance  the 
Middle  Kingdom  frontier  southward  to  the  Island  of  Argo,^ 
above  the  Third  Cataract,  as  heretofore  supposed.  Bis 
statue  on  Argo  is  but  life-size,  not  a  colossus,  and  was 
certainly  transported  thither  by  some  late  Nubian  king 
from  some  point  in  Egypt.  It  was  but  a  brief  restoration, 
and  the  monuments  which  had  survived  bear  no  records  to 
inform  us  of  its  character. 

The  darkness  which  followed  is  only  the  more  obscure  by 
contrast.  Foreign  adventurers  took  advantage  of  the  op- 
portunity, and  one  of  the  pretenders  who  achieved  a 
brief  success  may  have  been  a  Nubian.  In  any  case  he 
placed  the  word  Nehsi,  ' ' Negro,"  in  his  royal  cartouche. 
Another,  whose  second  royal  name  was  Mermeshu,  "Com- 
mander of  the  Army, ' '  was  evidently  a  military  aspirant  to 
the  throne.    The  country  was  broken  up  into  petty  king- 

^V,  517.  2 IV,  538.  8 1,  573. 

"I,  753-772.  *6  Turin  Pap.  Frag.  No.  80;  Petrie,  Scarabs,  No.  309. 


FALL  OF  MIDDLE  KINGDOM :  THE  HYKSOS  213 


doms,  of  which  Thebes  was  evidently  the  largest  in  the 
South.  Nubkheprure-Intef,  one  of  a  group  of  three  Intefs 
who  ruled  there,  frankly  discloses  the  conditions  in  a  de- 
cree1 deposing  an  official  at  Coptos  who  had  proved  a  traitor. 
In  this  document  Intef  curses  any  other  king  or  ruler  in 
Egypt  who  may  show  the  culprit  mercy,  naively  declaring 
that  no  such  king  or  ruler  shall  become  Pharaoh  of  the 
whole  country.  These  Intefs  were  buried  at  Thebes,  where 
the  pyramids  of  two  of  them,  still  standing  toward  the  close 
of  the  Twentieth  Dynasty,  were  inspected  by  the  Ramessid 
commissioners,  who  found  that  one  of  them  had  been  tun- 
nelled into  by  tomb-robbers.2  But  very  few  of  the  long  list 
of  kings  in  the  royal  list  of  Turin  can  be  found  mentioned 
upon  contemporary  monuments.  Here  and  there  a  frag- 
ment of  masonry,  a  statue,  or  sometimes  only  a  scarab  bear- 
ing a  royal  name,  furnishes  contemporary  testimony  of  the 
reign  of  this  or  that  one  among  them.  There  was  neither 
power,  nor  wealth,  nor  time  for  the  erection  of  permanent 
monuments;  king  still  followed  king  with  unprecedented 
rapidity,  and  for  most  of  them  our  only  source  of  knowl- 
edge is  therefore  the  bare  name  in  the  Turin  list,  the  dis- 
ordered fragments  of  which  have  not  even  preserved  for  us 
the  order  of  these  ephemeral  rulers  except  as  we  find 
groups  upon  one  fragment.  The  order  of  the  fragments 
themselves  remains  uncertain,  so  that  the  succession  of 
the  above  most  important  groups  is  also  questionable. 
Where  preserved  at  all  the  length  of  the  reign  is  usually 
but  a  year,  or  occasionally  two  or  three  years,  while  in 
two  cases  we  find  after  a  king's  name  but  three  days.  With- 
out any  dynastic  division  which  can  be  discerned,  we  find 
here  the  remains  of  at  least  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
names  of  kings,  whose  ceaseless  struggles  to  gain  or  to 
hold  the  throne  of  the  Pharaohs,  make  up  the  obscure 
history  of  this  dark  century  and  a  half  since  the  fall 
of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty.  Evidently  some  of  these  kings 
ruled  contemporaneously,  but  even  so,  such  a  period  of  con- 

*I,  773-780.  2 IV,  514  f. 


214 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


stant  struggle  and  usurpation  is  almost  equalled  during 
the  days  of  the  Moslem  viceroys  of  Egypt,  when,  under  the 
dynasty  of  the  Abbasids,  which  lasted  one  hundred  and 
eighteen  years  (750-868  A.  D.),  seventy  seven  viceroys  held 
the  throne  of  Egypt.  In  European  history  it  is  paralleled 
by  the  series  of  military  Emperors  after  Commodus,  when  in 
about  ninety  years  probably  eighty  emperors  succeed  each 
other.1  Manetho,  who  knew  nothing  of  this  confused  age, 
disposed  of  its  host  of  kings  in  two  lines,  as  a  Thirteenth 
Dynasty  in  Thebes,  and  a  Fourteenth  from  Xois,  a  city  of 
the  Delta. 

Economically  the  condition  of  the  country  must  have  rap- 
idly degenerated.  The  lack  of  a  uniform  administration 
of  the  irrigation  system,  which  the  nation  owed  to  the  king- 
ship as  an  institution,  and  the  generally  unstable  conditions, 
unavoidably  checked  the  agricultural  and  industrial  produc- 
tivity of  the  land ;  while  oppressive  taxation  and  the  tyranny 
of  warring  factions  in  need  of  funds  sapped  the  energies  and 
undermined  the  prosperity  which  had  been  so  ably  con- 
served by  the  house  of  Amenemhet  for  two  centuries.  While 
we  possess  no  monuments  which  tell  us  of  this  ruin,  their 
very  absence  is  evidence  of  it,  and  the  analogy  of  similar 
periods  in  Moslem  Egypt,  particularly  under  the  Mamlukes, 
makes  certain  the  unhappy  condition  of  the  nation  during 
this  period. 

Without  centralized  resources  or  organization  the  hap- 
less nation  was  an  easy  prey  to  foreign  aggression.  About 
1675  B.  C,  before  the  end  of  the  Thirteenth  Dynasty,  there 
poured  into  the  Delta  from  Asia  a  possibly  Semitic  invasion 
such  as  that,  which  in  prehistoric  times,  had  stamped  the 
language  with  its  unmistakable  form ;  and  again  in  our  own 
era,  under  the  influence  of  Islam,  overwhelmed  the  land. 
These  invaders,  now  generally  called  the  Hyksos,  after  the 
designation  applied  to  them  by  Josephus  (quoting  Manetho), 
themselves  left  so  few  monuments  in  Egypt  that  even  their 
nationality  is  still  the  subject  of  much  difference  of  opinion; 

1  Meyer.  Aeg.  Chron,  p.  62. 


FALL  OF  MIDDLE  KINGDOM:  THE  HYKSOS  215 


while  the  length  and  character  of  their  supremacy,  for  the 
same  reason,  are  equally  obscure  matters.  The  documen- 
tary materials  bearing  on  them  are  so  meagre  and  limited 
in  extent  that  the  reader  may  easily  survey  them  and  judge 
the  question  for  himself,  even  if  this  chapter  is  thereby  in 
danger  of  relapsing  into  a  "laboratory  note-book."  The 
late  tradition  regarding  the  Hyksos,  recorded  by  Manetho 
and  preserved  to  us  in  the  essay  of  J osephus  against  Apion, 
is  but  the  substance  of  a  folk-tale  like  that  narrating  the  fall 
of  the  Fourth  Dynasty,1  or  many  other  such  tales  from  which 
their  knowledge  of  Egypt's  past  was  chiefly  drawn  by  the 
Greeks.  The  more  ancient  and  practically  contemporary 
evidence  should  therefore  be  questioned  first.  Two  genera- 
tions after  the  Hyksos  had  been  expelled  from  the  country 
the  great  queen  Hatshepsut  thus  narrated  her  restoration 
of  the  damage  which  they  had  wrought : 

I  have  restored  that  which  was  ruins, 

I  have  raised  up  that  which  was  unfinished. 

Since  the  Asiatics  were  in  the  midst  of  Avaris  of  the  Northland 
L  Delta  J , 

And  the  barbarians  were  in  the  midst  of  them  [the  people  of  the 

Northland] , 
Overthrowing  that  which  had  been  made, 
While  they  ruled  in  ignorance  of  Re.2 

The  still  earlier  evidence  of  a  soldier  in  the  Egyptian  army 
that  expelled  the  Hyksos  shows  that  a  siege  of  Avaris  was 
necessary  to  drive  them  from  the  country  ;3  and  further  that 
the  pursuit  of  them  was  continued  into  southern  Palestine4 
and  ultimately  into  Phoenicia  or  Coelesyria.5  Some  four 
hundred  years  after  their  expulsion  a  folk-tale,6  narrating 
the  cause  of  the  final  war  against  them,  was  circulating 
among  the  people.    It  gives  an  interesting  account  of  them : 

4  4  Now  it  came  to  pass  that  the  land  of  Egypt  was  the  pos- 
session of  the  polluted,  no  lord  being  king  at  the  time  when 
it  happened ;  but  king  Sekenenre,  he  was  ruler  of  the  South- 

i  Infra,  pp.  122-3.  ■ II,    303.  ■  II,  8-10,  12. 

*  II,  13.  II,  20.  «  Pap.  Sallier  I. 


216 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


era  City  [Thebes]  .  .  .  King  Apophis  was  in  Avaris,  and 
the  whole  land  was  tributary  to  him;  the  [Southland]  bear- 
ing their  impost,  and  the  Northland  likewise  bearing  every 
good  thing  of  the  Delta.  Now  king  Apophis  made  Sutekh 
his  lord,  serving  no  other  god,  who  was  in  the  whole  land, 
save  Sutekh.  He  built  the  temple  in  beautiful  and  ever- 
lasting work  .  .  ;m 

From  these  earlier  documents  it  is  evident  that  the  Hyksos 
were  an  Asiatic  people  who  ruled  Egypt  from  their  strong- 
hold of  Avaris  in  the  Delta.  The  later  tradition  as  quoted 
from  Manetho  by  Josephus  in  the  main  corroborates  the 
above  more  trustworthy  evidence,  and  is  as  follows:2 

"There  was  a  king  of  ours  whose  name  was  Timaios,  in 
whose  reign  it  came  to  pass,  I  know  not  why,  that  God  was 
displeased  with  us,  and  there  came  unexpectedly  men  of 
ignoble  birth  out  of  the  eastern  parts,  who  had  boldness 
enough  to  make  an  expedition  into  our  country,  and  easily 
subdued  it  by  force  without  a  battle.  And  when  they  had 
got  our  rulers  under  their  power,  they  afterward  savagely 
burnt  down  our  cities  and  demolished  the  temples  of  the 
gods,  and  used  all  the  inhabitants  in  a  most  hostile  manner, 
for  they  slew  some  and  led  the  children  and  wives  of  others 
into  slavery.  At  length  they  made  one  of  themselves  king, 
whose  name  was  Salatis,  and  he  lived  at  Memphis  and  made 
both  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt  pay  tribute,  and  left  garrisons 
in  places  that  were  most  suitable  for  them.  And  he  made 
the  eastern  part  especially  strong,  as  he  foresaw  that  the 
Assyrians,  who  had  then  the  greatest  power,  would  covet 
their  kingdom  and  invade  them.  And  as  he  found  in  the 
Saite  [read  Sethroite]  nome  a  city  very  fit  for  his  purpose 
(which  lay  east  of  the  arm  of  the  Nile  near  Bubastis,  and 
with  regard  to  a  certain  theological  notion  was  called 
Avaris),  he  rebuilt  it  and  made  it  very  strong  by  the  walls 
he  built  around  it  and  by  a  numerous  garrison  of  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  thousand  armed  men,  whom  he  put  into  it  to 
keep  it.    There  Salatis  went  every  summer,  partly  to  gather 

"  Pap.  Sallier  I,  I,  11.  1-3.  *  Contra  Apion  I,  14, 


FALL  OF  MIDDLE  KINGDOM:  THE  HYKSOS  217 


in  his  corn  and  pay  his  soldiers  their  wages,  and  partly  to 
train  his  armed  men  and  so  to  awe  foreigners. ' 9 

If  we  eliminate  the  absurd  reference  to  the  Assyrians  and 
the  preposterous  number  of  the  garrison  at  Avaris,  the  tale 
may  be  credited  as  in  general  a  probable  narrative.  The 
further  account  of  the  Hyksos  in  the  same  essay  shows 
clearly  that  the  late  tradition  was  at  a  loss  to  identify  the 
Hyksos  as  to  nationality  and  origin.  Still  quoting  from 
Manetho,  Josephus  says :  "All  this  nation  was  styled  Hyksos, 
that  is,  Shepherd  Kings;  for  the  first  syllable  'hyk'  in  the 
sacred  dialect  denotes  a  king,  and  '  sos '  signifies  a  shepherd, 
but  this  is  only  according  to  the  vulgar  tongue ;  and  of  these 
was  compounded  the  term  Hyksos.  Some  say  they  were 
Arabians."  According  to  his  epitomizers,  Manetho  also 
called  them  Phoenicians.  Turning  to  the  designations  of 
Asiatic  rulers  as  preserved  on  the  Middle  Kingdom  and 
Hyksos  monuments,  there  is  no  such  term  to  be  found  as 
"ruler  of  shepherds,"  and  Manetho  wisely  adds  that  the 
word  "sos"  only  means  shepherd  in  the  late  vulgar  dialect. 
There  is  no  such  word  known  in  the  older  language  of  the 
monuments.  "Hyk"  (Egyptian  Hky),  however,  is  a  com- 
mon word  for  ruler,  as  Manetho  says,  and  Khian,  one  of  the 
Hyksos  kings,  often  gives  himself  this  title  upon  his  monu- 
ments, followed  by  a  word  for  "countries,"  which  by  Blight 
and  very  common  phonetic  changes  might  become  "sos"; 
so  that  "Hyksos"  is  a  not  improbable  Greek  spelling  for  the 
Egyptian  title  "Ruler  of  Countries." 

Looking  further  at  the  scanty  monuments  left  by  the 
Hyksos  themselves,  we  discover  a  few  vague  but  nevertheless 
significant  hints  as  to  the  character  of  these  strange  invaders, 
whom  tradition  called  Arabians  and  Phoenicians;  and  con- 
temporary monuments  designated  as  "Asiatics,"  "barbar- 
ians, ' '  and  ' '  rulers  of  countries. ' '  An  Apophis,  one  of  their 
kings,  fashioned  an  altar,  now  at  Cairo,  and  engraved  upon 
it  the  dedication:  "He  [Apophis]  made  it  as  his  monument 
for  his  father  Sutekh,  lord  of  Avaris,  when  he  [Sutekh] 


218 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


set  all  lands  under  his  [the  king's]  feet."1  General  as  is 
the  statement  it  would  appear  that  this  Apophis  ruled  over 
more  than  the  land  of  Egypt.  More  significant  are  the  mon- 
uments of  Khian,  the  most  remarkable  of  this  line  of  kings. 
They  have  been  found  from  Gebelen  in  southern  Egypt  to 
the  northern  Delta;  but  they  do  not  stop  here.  Under  a 
Mycenaean  wall  in  the  palace  of  Cnossos  in  Crete  an  alabas- 
ter vase-lid  bearing  his  name  was  discovered  by  Mr.  Evans  ;2 
while  a  granite  lion  with  his  cartouche  upon  the  breast, 
found  many  years  ago  at  Bagdad,  is  now  in  the  British 
Museum.  One  of  his  royal  names  was  "Encompasser  [liter- 
ally 'embracer']  of  the  Lands,"  and  we  recall  that  his  con- 
stant title  upon  his  scarabs  and  cylinders  is  "  ruler  of  coun- 
tries." Scarabs  of  the  Hyksos  rulers  have  been  turned  up 
by  the  excavations  in  southern  Palestine.  Meagre  as  these 
data  are,  one  cannot  contemplate  them  without  seeing  con- 
jured up  before  him  the  vision  of  a  vanished  empire  which 
once  stretched  from  the  Euphrates  to  the  first  cataract  of 
the  Nile,  an  empire  of  which  all  other  evidence  has  perished, 
for  the  reason  that  Avaris,  the  capital  of  its  rulers,  was  in 
the  Delta,  where,  like  so  many  other  Delta  cities,  it  suffered 
a  destruction  so  complete  that  we  cannot  even  locate  the  spot 
on  which  it  once  stood.  There  was,  moreover,  every  reason 
why  the  victorious  Egyptians  should  annihilate  all  evidence 
of  the  supremacy  of  their  hated  conquerors.  In  the  light 
of  these  developments  it  becomes  evident  why  the  invaders 
did  not  set  up  their  capital  in  the  midst  of  the  conquered 
land,  but  remained  in  Avaris,  on  the  extreme  east  of  the 
Delta,  close  to  the  borders  of  Asia.  It  was  that  they  might 
rule  not  only  Egypt,  but  also  their  Asiatic  dominions.  Ac- 
cepting the  above  probabilities,  we  can  also  understand  how 
the  Hyksos  could  retire  to  Asia  and  withstand  the  Egyptian 
onset  for  six  years  in  southern  Palestine,  as  we  know  from 
contemporary  evidence  3  they  did.    It  then  becomes  clear 

i  Mar.  Mon.  div.,  38. 

*  Annual  of  British  School  at  Athens,  VII,  65,  Fig.  21. 
•II,  13. 


FALL  OF  MIDDLE  KINGDOM:  THE  HYKSOS  219 


also  how  they  could  retreat  to  Syria  when  beaten  in  southern 
Palestine ;  these  movements  were  possible  because  they  con- 
trolled Palestine  and  Syria. 

If  we  ask  ourselves  regarding  the  nationality,  origin  and 
character  of  this  mysterious  Hyksos  empire,  we  can  hazard 
little  in  reply.  Manetho 's  tradition  that  they  were  Arabians 
and  Phoenicians  may  well  be  correct.1  Such  an  overflow  of 
southern  Semitic  emigration  into  Syria,  as  we  know  has 
since  then  taken  place  over  and  over  again,  may  well  have 
brought  together  these  two  elements;  and  a  generation  or 
two  of  successful  warrior-leaders  might  weld  them  together 
into  a  rude  state.  We  have  already  seen2  that  the  Semitic 
tribes  trading  with  Egypt  in  the  Twelfth  Dynasty  were  pos- 
sessed of  considerably  more  than  the  rudiments  of  civiliza- 
tion; while  the  wars  of  the  Pharaohs  in  Syria  immediately 
after  the  expulsion  of  the  Hyksos  show  the  presence  of  civi- 
lized and  highly  developed  states  there.  Now,  such  an  em- 
pire as  we  believe  the  Hyksos  ruled  could  hardly  have 
existed  without  leaving  its  traces  among  the  peoples  of 
Syria-Palestine  for  some  generations  after  the  beginning  of 
the  succeeding  Egyptian  supremacy  in  Asia.  It  would 
therefore  be  strange  if  we  could  not  discern  in  the  records 
of  the  subsequent  Egyptian  wars  in  Asia  some  evidence  of 
the  surviving  wreck  of  the  once  great  Hyksos  empire  which 
the  Pharaohs  demolished. 

For  two  generations  after  the  expulsion  of  the  Hyksos  we 
can  gain  little  insight  into  the  conditions  in  Syria.  At  this 
point  the  ceaseless  campaigns  of  Thutmose  III,  as  recorded 
in  his  Annals,  enable  us  to  discern  which  nation  was  then 
playing  the  leading  role  there.  The  great  coalition  of  the 
kings  of  Palestine  and  Syria,  with  which  Thutmose  III  was 
called  upon  to  contend  at  the  beginning  of  his  wars,  was  led 
and  dominated  throughout  by  the  powerful  king  of  Kadesh 
on  the  Orontes.  It  required  ten  years  of  constant  campaign- 
ing by  Thutmose  III  to  achieve  the  capture  of  the  stubborn 
city  and  the  subjugation  of  the  kingdom  of  which  it  was 

i  But  see  Meyer,  Aeg.  Chron.,  pp.  95  ff.  *  Infra,  p.  188. 


220 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


the  head;  but  with  power  still  unbroken  it  revolted,  and 
Thutmose  Ill's  twenty  years  of  warfare  in  Syria  were  only 
crowned  with  victory  when  he  finally  succeeded  in  again 
defeating  Kadesh,  after  a  dangerous  and  persistent  strug- 
gle. The  leadership  of  Kadesh  from  the  beginning  to  the 
end  of  Thutmose  Ill's  campaigns  is  such  as  to  convey  the 
impression  that  many  Syrian  and  Palestinian  kinglets  were 
its  vassals.  It  is  in  this  Syrian  domination  of  the  king  of 
Kadesh  that,  in  the  author's  opinion,  we  should  recognize 
the  last  nucleus  of  the  Hyksos  empire,  finally  annihilated, 
by  the  genius  of  Thutmose  III.  Hence  it  was  that  Thutmose 
III,  the  final  destroyer  of  the  Hyksos  empire,  became  also 
the  traditional  hero  who  expelled  the  invaders  from  Egypt ; 
and  as  Misphragmouthosis  he  thus  appears  in  Manetho's 
story  as  the  liberator  of  his  country.  That  it  was  a  Semitic 
empire  we  cannot  doubt,  in  view  of  the  Manethonian  tra- 
dition and  the  subsequent  conditions  in  Syria-Palestine. 
Moreover  the  scarabs  of  a  Pharaoh  who  evidently  belonged 
to  the  Hyksos  time,  give  his  name  as  Jacob-her  or  possibly 
Jacob-El,  and  it  is  not  impossible  that  some  chief  of  the 
Jacob-tribes  of  Israel  for  a  time  gained  the  leadership  in 
this  obscure  age.  Such  an  incident  would  account  surpris- 
ingly well  for  the  entrance  of  these  tribes  into  Egypt,  which 
on  any  hypothesis  must  have  taken  place  at  about  this  age ; 
and  in  that  case  the  Hebrews  in  Egypt  will  have  been  but  a 
part  of  the  Beduin  allies  of  the  Kadesh  or  Hyksos  empire, 
whose  presence  there  brought  into  the  tradition  the  partially 
true  belief  that  the  Hyksos  were  shepherds,  and  led  Manetho 
to  his  untenable  etymology  of  the  second  part  of  the  word. 
Likewise  the  naive  assumption  of  Josephus,  who  identifies 
the  Hyksos  with  the  Hebrews,  may  thus  contain  a  kernel  of 
truth,  however  accidental.  But  such  precarious  combina- 
tions should  not  be  made  without  a  full  realization  of  their 
hazardous  character. 

Of  the  reign  of  these  remarkable  conquerors  in  Egypt  we 
know  no  more  than  of  their  contemporaries,  the  Egyptian 
dynasts  of  this  age  already  discussed,  who  continued  to  rule 


PALL  OF  MIDDLE  KINGDOM :  THE  HYKSOS  221 


in  Thebes  and  probably  throughout  Upper  Egypt.  Both 
the  account  in  Manetho  and  the  folk-tale  above  quoted  state 
that  the  Hyksos  kings  laid  the  whole  country  under  tribute, 
and  we  have  already  observed  that  Hyksos  monuments  have 
been  found  as  far  south  as  Gebelen.  The  beginning  of  their 
rule  may  have  been  a  gradual  immigration  without  hostili- 
ties, as  Manetho  relates.  It  is  perhaps  in  this  epoch  that  we 
should  place  one  of  their  kings,  a  certain  Khenzer,  who 
seems  to  have  left  the  affairs  of  the  country  largely  in  the 
hands  of  his  vizier,  Enkhu,  so  that  the  latter  administered 
and  restored  the  temples.1  As  this  vizier  lived  in  the  period 
of  Neferhotep  and  the  connected  Sebekhoteps,  it  is  possible 
that  we  should  place  the  gradual  rise  of  Hyksos  power  in 
Egypt  just  after  that  group  of  Pharaohs. 

From  the  contemporary  monuments  we  learn  the  names 
of  three  Apophises  and  of  Khian  (Fig.  101),  besides  possibly 
Khenzer  and  Jacob-her,  whom  we  have  already  noted. 
Among  the  six  names  preserved  from  Manetho  by  Josephus 
we  can  recognize  but  two,  an  Apophis  and  Iannas,  who  is 
certainly  the  same  as  Khian  of  the  contemporary  monu- 
ments. The  only  contemporary  date  is  that  of  the  thirty 
third  year  of  an  Apophis,  in  the  mathematical  papyrus  of 
the  British  Museum.  The  Manethonian  tradition  in  which  we 
find  three  dynasties  of  Shepherds  or  Hyksos  (the  Fifteenth 
to  Seventeenth)  is  totally  without  support  from  the  contem- 
porary monuments  in  the  matter  of  the  duration  of  the 
Hyksos  supremacy  in  Egypt.  A  hundred  years  is  ample  for 
the  whole  period.  Even  if  it  was  actually  much  longer,  this 
fact  would  not  necessarily  extend  the  length  of  the  period 
from  the  fall  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty  to  the  end  of  the 
Hyksos  rule;  for  it  is  evident  that  many  of  the  numerous 
kings  of  this  period,  enumerated  in  the  Turin  Papyrus,  may 
have  ruled  in  the  South  as  vassals  of  the  Hyksos,  like  the 
Sekenenre,  whom  the  folk-tale  makes  the  Theban  vassal  of 
one  of  the  Apophises. 

What  occasioned  the  unquestionable  barbarities  on  the 

i  I,  781-787. 


222 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


part  of  the  conquerors,  it  is  now  impossible  to  discern;  but 
it  is  evident  that  hostilities  must  have  eventually  broken 
out,  causing  the  destruction  of  the  temples,  later  restored 
by  Hatshepsut.  Their  patron  god  Sutekh  is  of  course  the 
Egyptianized  form  of  some  Syrian  Baal;  Sutekh  being  an 
older  form  of  the  well  known  Egyptian  Set.  The  Hyksos 
kings  themselves  must  have  been  rapidly  Egyptianized ;  they 
assumed  the  complete  Pharaonic  titulary,  and  they  appro- 
priated statues  of  their  predecessors  in  the  Delta  cities, 
wrought,  of  course,  in  the  conventional  style  peculiar  to  the 
Pharaohs  (Fig.  101).  Civilization  did  not  essentially  surfer; 
a  mathematical  treatise  dated  under  one  of  the  Apophises  is 
preserved  in  the  British  Museum.  We  have  already  seen  one 
of  the  Apophises  building  a  temple  in  Avaris,  and  a  frag- 
ment of  a  building  inscription1  of  an  Apophis  at  Bubastis 
says  that  he  made  "numerous  flag-staves  tipped  with  copper 
for  this  god, ' '  such  flag-staves  flying  a  tuft  of  gaily  coloured 
pennants  being  used  to  adorn  a  temple  front.  The  influence 
upon  Egypt  of  such  a  foreign  dominion,  including  both 
Syria-Palestine  and  the  lower  Nile  valley,  was  epoch  making, 
and  had  much  to  do  with  the  fundamental  transformation 
which  began  with  the  expulsion  of  these  aliens.  It  brought 
the  horse  into  the  Nile  valley  and  taught  the  Egyptians  war- 
fare on  a  large  scale.  Whatever  they  may  have  suffered, 
the  Egyptians  owed  an  incalculable  debt  to  their  conquerors. 

1  Nav.  Bubastis,  I,  pi.  35c. 


CHAPTER  XII 


THE  EXPULSION  OF  THE  HYKSOS  AND  THE  TRIUMPH 

OF  THEBES 

It  must  have  been  about  1600  B.  C,  nearly  two  hundred 
years  after  the  fall  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty,  that  the 
Sekenenre  of  the  folk-tale1  was  ruling  in  Thebes  under  the 
suzerainty  of  a  Hyksos  Apophis  in  Avaris.  This  tale,  as 
current  four  hundred  years  later  in  Rainessid  days,  is  our 
only  source  for  the  events  that  immediately  followed.  After 
its  account  of  the  Hyksos,  which  the  reader  will  recall  as 
quoted  above,  there  follows  the  brief  description  of  a  sacred 
feast,  and  later  a  council  of  Apophis  and  his  wise  men ;  but 
what  took  place  at  this  council  is  quite  uncertain.  It  con- 
cerned a  plot  or  design  against  king  Sekenenre,  however, 
for  the  story  then  proceeds:  "Now  many  days  after  this, 
king  Apophis  sent  to  the  prince  [king  Sekenenre]  of  the 
Southern  City  [Thebes]  the  report  which  his  scribes  and 
wise  men  had  communicated  to  him.  Now  when  the  mes- 
senger whom  king  Apophis  had  sent  reached  the  prince  of 
the  Southern  City,  he  was  taken  to  the  prince  of  the  Southern 
City.  Then  said  one  to  the  messengers  of  king  Apophis, 
'What  brings  thee  to  the  Southern  City,  and  wherefore  hast 
thou  joined  them  that  journey V  The  messenger  said  to 
him,  'It  is  king  Apophis  who  sends  to  thee,  saying:  "One 
[that  is  the  messenger]  has  come  [to  thee]  concerning  the 
pool  of  the  hippopotami,  which  is  in  the  city  [Thebes].  For 
they  permit  me  no  sleep,  day  and  night  the  noise  of  them 
is  in  my  ear."  '  Then  the  prince  of  the  Southern  City 
lamented  a  [long]  time,  and  it  came  to  pass  that  he  could 
not  return  [answer]  to  the  messenger  of  king  Apophis." 

i  Infra,  pp.  215-16. 

223 


224 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


The  surviving  fragments  at  this  point  would  indicate  that 
Sekenenre  now  sent  gifts  to  Apophis  and  promised  to  do 
all  that  he  demanded,  after  which,  "  [the  messenger  of  king] 
Apophis  betook  himself  away,  to  proceed  to  the  place  where 
his  lord  was.  Then  the  prince  of  the  Southern  City  caused 
to  summon  his  great  princes,  likewise  his  officers  and  leaders 
.  .  .  ,  and  he  recounted  to  them  all  the  matters  concerning 
which  king  Apophis  had  sent  to  him.  Then  they  were  with 
one  accord  silent  for  a  long  time,  and  could  not  answer  him 

either  good  or  bad.    Then  king  Apophis  sent  to  ,,M  but 

here  the  tantalizing  bit  of  papyrus  is  torn  off,  and  we  shall 
never  know  the  conclusion  of  the  tale.  However,  what  we 
have  in  it  is  the  popular  and  traditional  version  of  an  inci- 
dent, doubtless  regarded  as  the  occasion  of  the  long  war 
between  the  Theban  princes  and  the  Hyksos  in  Avaris.  The 
preposterous  casus  belli,  the  complaint  of  Apophis  in  the 
Delta  that  he  was  disturbed  by  the  noise  of  the  Theban  hip- 
popotami is  folk-history,  a  wave  mark  among  the  people, 
left  by  the  tide  which  the  Hyksos  war  set  in  motion. 
Manetho  corroborates  the  general  situation  depicted  in  the 
tale;  for  he  says  that  the  kings  of  the  Thebaid  and  other 
parts  of  Egypt  made  a  great  and  long  war  upon  the  Hyksos 
in  Avaris.  His  use  of  the  plural  ' ' kings"  immediately  sug- 
gests the  numerous  local  dynasts,  whom  we  have  met  before, 
each  contending  with  his  neighbour  and  effectually  prevent- 
ing the  country  from  presenting  a  united  front  to  the  north- 
ern foe.  There  were  three  Sekenenres.  The  mummy  of  the 
last  of  the  three  discovered  in  the  great  find  at  Der  el-Bahri, 
and  now  at  the  Cairo  museum,  exhibits  frightful  wounds  in 
the  head  (Fig.  100),  so  that  he  doubtless  fell  in  battle,  not 
improbably  in  the  Hyksos  war.  They  were  followed  by  a 
king  Kemose  who  probably  continued  the  war.  Their  small 
pyramids  of  brick  at  Thebes  have  long  since  passed  away, but 
they  were  still  uninjured  when  inspected  some  four  hundred 
and  fifty  years  later  by  the  Rarnessid  commissioners,  whose 
investigation2  of  the  necropolis  we  have  referred  to  before. 

1  Pap.  Sallier  I,  II,  1.  1-II1,  1.  3.  *  IV,  518-19. 


THE  TRIUMPH  OF  THEBES 


225 


It  is  evident  that  this  Theban  family  were  gradually  thrust- 
ing themselves  to  the  front  with  more  and  more  successful 
aggressiveness,  so  that  these  three  Sekenenres  and  Kemose 
form  the  latter  part  of  Manetho's  Seventeenth  Dynasty. 
They  were  obliged  to  maintain  themselves  not  merely  against 
the  Hyksos,  but  also  against  numerous  rival  dynasts,  espe- 
cially in  the  extreme  South  above  El  Kab,  where,  removed 
from  the  turmoil  of  northern  war,  and  able  to  carry  on  a 
flourishing  internal  commerce,  the  local  princes  enjoyed 
great  prosperity,  while  those  of  the  North  had  doubtless  in 
many  instances  perished.  We  shall  later  find  these  pros- 
perous dynasts  of  the  South  holding  out  against  the  rising 
power  of  Thebes  while  the  latter  was  slowly  expelling  the 
Hyksos. 

Following  Kemose 's  short  reign,  Ahmose  I,  possibly  his 
son,  the  first  king  of  Manetho 's  Eighteenth  Dynasty,  assumed 
the  leadership  of  the  Theban  house,  about  1580  B.  C,  and 
became  the  deliverer  of  Egypt  from  her  foreign  lords. 
Sekenenre  III  had  already  won  the  friendship  of  the  pow- 
erful princes  of  El  Kab  (Fig.  102),  and  by  rich  gifts  and 
plentiful  honours  Ahmose  I  retained  the  valuable  support  of 
these  princes,  against  both  the  Hyksos  and  the  obstinate 
local  dynasts  of  the  upper  river,  who  constantly  threatened 
his  rear.  Ahmose  thus  made  El  Kab  a  buffer,  which  pro- 
tected him  from  the  attacks  of  his  Egyptian  rivals  south  of 
that  city.  No  document  bearing  on  the  course  of  the  war 
with  the  Hyksos  in  its  earlier  stages  has  survived  to  us,  nor 
have  any  of  Ahmose 's  royal  annals  been  preserved,  but  one 
of  his  El  Kab  allies,  named  Ahmose,  son  of  Ebana  (his 
mother's  name),  whose  father,  Baba,  served  under  Sekenenre 
III,  has  fortunately  left  an  account  of  his  own  military 
career  on  the  walls  of  his  tomb  at  El  Kab.  He  thus  nar- 
rates the  story  of  his  service  under  Ahmose  of  Thebes:  "I 
spent  my  youth  in  the  city  of  Nekheb  [El  Kab],  my  father 
being  an  officer  of  the  king  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt, 
Sekenenre,  triumphant ;  Baba,  son  of  Royenet,  was  his  name. 
Then  I  served  as  an  officer  in  his  stead  in  the  ship  [called] 

15 


226 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


'The  Offering/  in  the  time  of  king  Ahmose  I,  triumphant, 
while  I  was  a  young  man,  not  having  taken  a  wife  .  .  . 
Then  after  I  set  up  a  household  I  was  transferred  to  the 
northern  fleet  because  of  my  valour.' '  He  was  thus  taken 
from  El  Kab  and  given  service  against  the  Hyksos  in  the 
north.  At  first,  although  a  naval  officer,  he  was  assigned  to 
infantry  service  in  attendance  upon  the  king,  for  his  biog- 
raphy proceeds:  "I  followed  the  king  on  foot  when  he  rode 
abroad  in  his  chariot.  One  [meaning  the  king]  besieged 
the  city  of  Avaris ;  I  showed  valor  on  foot  before  his  majesty ; 
then  I  was  appointed  to  the  ship  [called]  ' Shining-in-Mem- 
phis.'  One  fought  on  the  water  in  the  canal  Pazedku  of 
Avaris.  Then  I  fought  hand  to  hand,  I  brought  away  a 
hand  [cut  off  as  a  trophy].  It  was  reported  to  the  royal 
herald.  One  gave  to  me  the  gold  of  valor  [a  decoration]. 
There  was  again  fighting  in  this  place ;  I  again  fought  hand 
to  hand  there ;  I  brought  away  a  hand.  One  gave  to  me  the 
gold  of  valor  in  the  second  place."1  The  siege  of  Avaris 
was  now  interrupted  by  an  uprising  of  one  of  the  local 
dynasts  above  El  Kab,  which  was  regarded  as  so  serious  by 
the  king  that  he  himself  went  south  to  quell  it,  and  took 
Ahmose,  son  of  Ebana,  with  him.  The  latter  thus  briefly 
narrates  the  incident:  "One  fought  in  this  Egypt  south  of 
this  city  [El  Kab] ;  I  brought  away  a  living  captive,  a  man, 
I  descended  into  the  water;  behold  he  was  brought  as  a 
seizure  upon  the  road  of  this  city,  [although]  I  crossed  with 
him  over  the  water.  It  was  announced  to  the  royal  herald. 
Then  one  presented  me  with  gold  in  double  measure."2 
Having  sufficiently  quelled  his  southern  rivals,  Ahmose 
resumed  the  siege  of  Avaris,  for  at  this  point  our  naval 
officer  abruptly  announces  its  capture:  "One  captured 
Avaris ;  I  took  captive  there  one  man  and  three  women,  total 
four  heads.  His  majesty  gave  them  to  me  for  slaves."3 
The  city  thus  fell  on  the  fourth  assault  after  the  arrival  of 
Ahmose,  son  of  Ebana,  but  it  is  quite  uncertain  how  many 
such  assaults  had  been  made  before  his  transference  thither, 

ill,  7-10.  2 II,  11.  *II,  12. 


THE  TRIUMPH  OF  THEBES 


227 


for  the  siege  had  evidently  lasted  many  years  and  had  been 
interrupted  by  a  rebellion  in  Upper  Egypt.  Our  naval 
officer  does  not  tell  us  who  were  the  defenders  of  Avaris, 
but  we  do  not  need  to  be  told  in  view  of  what  we  know  from 
Manetho  and  the  folk-tale;  likewise  as  we  follow  his  nar- 
rative a  step  farther  he  fails  to  inform  us  who  were  his  foes 
in  the  next  encounter ;  but  it  is  clear  that  they  can  be  no  other 
than  the  Hyksos,  fleeing  into  Asia  after  being  driven  from 
Avaris,  following  the  fall  of  which,  our  biographer  says: 
"One  besieged  Sharuhen  for  three  years  and  his  majesty 
took  it.  Then  I  took  captive  there  two  women  and  one  hand. 
One  gave  to  me  the  gold  of  bravery  besides  giving  me  the 
captives  for  slaves."1  This  is  the  earliest  siege  of  such 
length  known  in  history,  and  it  is  surprising  evidence  of  the 
stubbornness  of  the  Hyksos  defense  and  the  tenacity  of  king 
Ahmose  in  dislodging  them  from  a  stronghold  in  such  dan- 
gerous proximity  to  the  Egyptian  frontier.  For  Sharuhen 
was  probably  in  southern  Judah,2  whence  the  Hyksos  might 
again  easily  invade  the  Delta.  But  Ahmose  was  not  content 
with  driving  them  out  of  Sharuhen.  We  find  another  mem- 
ber of  the  El  Kab  family,  called  Ahmose-Pen-Nekhbet, 
fighting  under  king  Ahmose  I  in  Zahi,3  which  is  Phoenicia 
and  Syria,  and  it  is  therefore  evident  that  Ahmose  pur- 
sued the  Hyksos  northward  from  Sharuhen,  forcing  them 
back  to  at  least  a  safe  distance  from  the  Delta  frontier.  In 
the  twenty  second  year  of  his  reign  he  was  still  using  in 
his  building  operations  oxen  which  he  had  taken  from  the 
Asiatics,4  so  that  this  or  another  campaign  of  his  in  Asia 
must  have  continued  to  within  a  few  years  of  that  time. 
Returning  to  Egypt,  now  entirely  free  from  all  fear  of  its 
former  lords,  he  gave  his  attention  to  the  recovery  of  the 
Egyptian  possessions  in  Nubia. 

During  the  long  period  of  disorganization  following  the 
Middle  Kingdom,  the  Nubians  had  naturally  taken  advan- 
tage of  their  opportunity  and  fallen  away.  How  far  Ahmose 
penetrated  it  is  impossible  to  determine,  but  he  evidently  met 

HI*  13.  2  Josh.  10:  6.  »  II,  20.  «  II,  26-27. 


228 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


with  no  serious  resistance  in  the  recovery  of  the  old  territory 
between  the  first  and  second  cataracts.1  But  his  rule  was 
not  yet  firmly  established  in  Egypt  itself,  for  he  was  no 
sooner  well  out  of  the  country  on  the  Nubian  campaign  than 
his  inveterate  rivals  south  of  El  Kab  again  arose  against 
him.  They  were  totally  defeated  in  a  battle  on  the  Nile, 
and  our  old  friend  Ahmose,  son  of  Ebana,  was  rewarded 
for  his  valour  in  the  action  with  five  slaves  and  five  stat 
(nearly  three  and  a  half  acres)  of  land  in  El  Kab.2  All  the 
sailors  engaged  in  the  battle  were  treated  with  equal  gen- 
erosity. Even  then  Ahmose  was  obliged  to  quell  one  more 
rebellion  before  he  was  left  in  undisputed  possession  of  the 
throne ;  for  in  closing  the  narrative  of  his  service  under  this 
king,  Ahmose,  son  of  Ebana,  says:  "Then  came  that  fallen 
one,  whose  name  was  Teti-en;  he  had  gathered  to  himself 
rebels.  His  majesty  slew  him  and  his  servants,  annihilating 
them.  There  were  given  to  me  three  heads  [slaves]  and 
five  stat  of  land  in  my  city."3  We  thus  see  how  king 
Ahmose  bound  his  supporters  to  his  cause.  He  did  not  stop, 
however,  with  gold,  slaves  and  land,  but  in  some  cases  even 
granted  the  local  princes,  the  descendants  of  the  great  feudal 
lords  of  the  Middle  Kingdom,  high  and  royal  titles  like  ' '  first 
king 's  son, ' '  which,  while  conveying  few  or  no  prerogatives, 
satisfied  the  vanity  of  old  and  illustrious  families,  like  that 
of  El  Kab,  who  deserved  well  at  his  hands.  Similarly  we 
find  barons  who  were  left  in  possession  of  their  old  titles, 
but  evidently  the  estates  of  such  magnates  were  taken 
out  of  their  hands  and  administered  by  the  central  govern- 
ment, for  they  resided  at  Thebes  and  were  buried  there. 
Thus  we  find  there  the  tombs  of  the  lords  of  Thinis  and  of 
Aphroditopolis ;  a  lord  of  the  former  city  assisted  Queen 
Hatshepsut  in  the  transportation  of  her  obelisks.4 

There  were  but  few  of  the  local  nobles  who  thus  supported 
Ahmose  and  gained  his  favour;  the  larger  number  opposed 
both  him  and  the  Hyksos  and  perished  in  the  struggle. 
Their  more  fortunate  fellows,  being  now  nothing  more  than 

1  II,  14.  2  n5  is.  3  n5  16.  4  ii,  p.  138,  note  e. 


THE  TRIUMPH  OF  THEBES 


229 


court  and  administrative  officials,  the  feudal  lords  thus  prac- 
tically disappeared.  The  lands  which  formed  their  heredi- 
tary possessions  were  confiscated  and  passed  to  the  crown, 
where  they  permanently  remained.  There  was  one  notable 
exception  to  the  general  confiscation;  the  house  of  El  Kab, 
to  which  the  Theban  dynasty  owed  so  much,  was  allowed 
to  retain  its  lands,  and  two  generations  after  the  expulsion 
of  the  Hyksos,  the  head  of  the  house  appears  as  lord,  not 
only  of  El  Kab  but  also  Esneh  and  all  the  intervening  terri- 
tory. Besides  this  he  was  given  administrative  charge, 
though  not  hereditary  possession,  of  the  lands  of  the  south 
from  the  vicinity  of  Thebes  (Per-Hathor)  to  El  Kab.  Yet 
this  exception  serves  but  to  accentuate  more  sharply  the  total 
extinction  of  the  landed  nobility,  who  had  formed  the  sub- 
stance of  the  governmental  organization  under  the  Middle 
Kingdom.  All  Egypt  was  now  the  personal  estate  of  the 
Pharaoh,  just  as  it  was  after  the  destruction  of  the  Mamlukes 
by  Mohammed  Ali  early  in  the  nineteenth  century.  It  is 
this  state  of  affairs  which  in  Hebrew  tradition  was  repre 
sented  as  the  direct  result  of  Joseph's  sagacity.1 

"  G«n.  47 :  19-20. 


BOOK  V 

THE  EMPIRE:    FTRST  PERIOD 


CHAPTER  XIII 


THE  NEW  STATE:  SOCIETY  AND  RELIGION 

The  task  of  building  up  a  state,  which  now  confronted 
Ahmose  I,  differed  materially  from  the  reorganization  ac- 
complished at  the  beginning  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty  by 
Amenemhet  I.     The  latter  dealt  with  social  and  political 
factors  no  longer  new  in  his  time,  and  manipulated  to  his 
own  ends  the  old  political  units  without  destroying  their  iden- 
tity, whereas  Ahmose  had  now  to  begin  with  the  erection  of 
a  fabric  of  government  out  of  elements  so  completely  di- 
vorced from  the  old  forms  as  to  have  lost  their  identity, 
being  now  in  a  state  of  total  flux.    The  course  of  events, 
which  culminated  in  the  expulsion  of  the  Hyksos,  determined 
for  Ahmose  the  form  which  the  new  state  was  to  assume. 
He  was  now  at  the  head  of  a  strong  army,  effectively  organ- 
ized and  welded  together  by  long  campaigns  and  sieges  pro- 
tracted through  years,  during  which  he  had  been  both  general 
in  the  field  and  head  of  the  state.    The  character  of  the  gov- 
ernment followed  involuntarily  out  of  these  conditions. 
Egypt  became  a  military  state.    It  was  quite  natural  that 
it  should  remain  so,  in  spite  of  the  usually  unwarlike  char- 
acter of  the  Egyptian.    The  long  war  with  the  Hyksos  had 
now  educated  him  as  a  soldier,  the  large  army  of  Ahmose 
had  spent  years  in  Asia  and  had  even  been  for  a  longer  or 
shorter  period  among  the  rich  cities  of  Syria.  Having 
thoroughly  learned  war  and  having  perceived  the  enormous 
wealth  to  be  gained  by  it  in  Asia,  the  whole  land  was  roused 
and  stirred  with  a  lust  of  conquest,  which  was  not  quenched 
for  several  centuries.    The  wealth,  the  rewards  and  the  pro- 
motion open  to  the  professional  soldier  were  a  constant  in- 
centive to  a  military  career,  and  the  middle  classes,  other- 

233 


234 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


wise  so  unwarlike,  now  entered  the  ranks  with  ardour. 
Among  the  survivors  of  the  noble  class,  chiefly  those  who 
had  attached  themselves  to  the  Theban  house,  the  profession 
of  arms  became  the  most  attractive  of  all  careers,  and  in  the 
biographies1  which  they  have  left  in  their  tombs  at  Thebes 
they  narrate  with  the  greatest  satisfaction  the  campaigns 
which  they  went  through  at  the  Pharaoh's  side,  and  the 
honours  which  he  bestowed  upon  them.  Many  a  campaign, 
all  record  of  which  would  have  been  irretrievably  lost,  has 
thus  come  to  our  knowledge  through  one  of  these  military 
biographies,  like  that  of  Ahmose,2  son  of  Ebana,  from  which 
we  have  quoted.  The  sons  of  the  Pharaoh,  who  in  the  Old 
Kingdom  held  administrative  offices,  are  now  generals  in  the 
army.3  For  the  next  century  and  a  half  the  story  of  the 
achievements  of  the  army  will  be  the  story  of  Egypt,  for 
the  army  is  now  the  dominant  force  and  the  chief  motive 
power  in  the  new  state.  In  organization  it  quite  surpassed 
the  militia  of  the  old  days,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  that 
it  was  now  a  standing  army.  It  was  organized  into  two 
grand  divisions,  one  in  the  Delta  and  the  other  in  the  upper 
country.4  In  Syria  it  had  learned  tactics  and  proper  strate- 
gic disposition  of  forces,  the  earliest  of  which  we  know  any- 
thing in  history.  We  shall  now  find  partition  of  an  army 
into  divisions,  we  shall  hear  of  wings  and  centre,  we  shall 
even  trace  a  flank  movement  and  define  battle  lines.  All 
this  is  fundamentally  different  from  the  disorganized  plun- 
dering expeditions  naively  reported  as  wars  by  the  monu- 
ments of  the  older  periods  (Fig.  104).  Besides  the  old  bow 
and  spear,  the  troops  henceforth  carry  also  a  war  axe.  They 
have  learned  archery  fire  by  volleys  and  the  dreaded  archers 
of  Egypt  now  gained  a  reputation  which  followed  and  made 
them  feared  even  in  classic  times.  But  more  than  this,  the 
Hyksos  having  brought  the  horse  into  Egypt,  the  Egyptian 
armies  now  for  the  first  time  possessed  a  large  proportion 
of  chariotry.    Cavalry  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  term  was 

» II,  1-16,  17-25,  et  passim.  2  Ibid. 

Mil,  350.  362.  *  III,  56. 


Fig.  105.-A  CHARIOT  OF  THE  EMPIRE. 
It  is  of  full  size,  made  of  wood,  bronze  and  leather.    Museo  Archaeologico,  Florence. 


THE  NEW  STATE:  SOCIETY  AND  RELIGION  235 


not  employed.  The  deft  craftsmen  of  Egypt  soon  mastered 
the  art  of  chariot-making  (Fig.  105),  while  the  stables  of 
the  Pharaoh  contained  thousands  of  the  best  horses  to  be 
had  in  Asia.  In  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  time,  the 
Pharaoh  was  accompanied  on  all  public  appearances  by  a 
body-guard  of  elite  troops  and  a  group  of  his  favourite  mili- 
tary officers. 

With  such  force  at  his  back,  he  ruled  in  absolute  power; 
there  was  none  to  offer  a  breath  of  opposition;  there  was  not 
a  whisper  of  that  modern  monitor  of  kings,  public  opinion, 
an  inconvenience  with  which  rulers  in  the  orient  are  rarely 
obliged  to  reckon,  even  at  the  present  day.  With  a  man  of 
strong  powers  on  the  throne,  all  were  at  his  feet,  but  let 
him  betray  a  single  evidence  of  weakness,  and  he  was  quickly 
made  the  puppet  of  court  coteries  and  the  victim  of  harem 
intrigues  as  of  old.  At  such  a  time,  as  has  happened  so 
often  since  in  Egypt,  an  able  minister  might  overthrow  the 
dynasty  and  found  one  of  his  own.  But  the  man  who  ex- 
pelled the  Hyksos  was  thoroughly  master  of  the  situation. 
It  is  evidently  in  large  measure  to  him  that  we  owe  the  recon- 
struction of  the  state  which  was  now  emerging  from  the  tur- 
moils of  two  centuries  of  internal  disorder  and  foreign 
invasion. 

This  new  state  is  revealed  to  us  more  clearly  than  that  of 
any  other  period  of  Egyptian  history  under  native  dynasties, 
and  while  we  shall  recognize  many  elements  surviving  from 
earlier  times,  we  shall  be  able  to  discern  much  that  is  new 
in  the  great  structure  of  government  which  was  now  rising 
under  the  hands  of  Ahmose  I  and  his  successors.  The  su- 
preme position  occupied  by  the  Pharaoh  meant  a  very  active 
participation  in  the  affairs  of  government.  He  was  accus- 
tomed every  morning  to  meet  the  vizier,  still  the  main  spring 
of  the  administration,  to  consult  with  him  on  all  the  interests 
of  the  country  and  all  the  current  business  which  necessarily 
came  under  his  eye.1  Immediately  thereafter  he  held  a  con- 
ference with  the  chief  treasurer.2    These  two  men  headed 

■  II,  678.  *  Ibid. 


236 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


the  chief  departments  of  government:  the  treasury  and  the 
judiciary.  The  Pharaoh's  office,  in  which  they  made  their 
daily  reports  to  him,  was  the  central  organ  of  the  whole 
government  where  all  its  lines  converged.  All  other  reports 
to  government  were  likewise  handed  in  here,  and  theoretic- 
ally they  all  passed  through  the  Pharaoh's  hands.  Even 
in  the  limited  number  of  such  documents  preserved  to  us, 
we  discern  the  vast  array  of  detailed  questions  in  practical 
administration  which  the  busy  monarch  decided.  The  pun- 
ishment of  condemned  criminals  was  determined  by  him, 1 
the  documents  in  the  case  being  sent  up  to  him  for  a  decision 
while  the  victims  awaited  their  fate  in  the  dungeon.  Besides 
frequent  campaigns  in  Nubia  and  Asia,  he  visited2  the  quar- 
ries and  mines  in  the  desert  or  inspected3  the  desert  routes, 
seeking  suitable  locations  for  wells  and  stations.  Likewise 
the  internal  administration  required  frequent  journeys  to 
examine  new  buildings  and  check  all  sorts  of  official  abuses. 4 
The  official  cults  in  the  great  temples,  too,  demanded  more 
and  more  of  the  monarch's  time  and  attention  as  the  rituals 
in  the  vast  state  temples  increased  in  complexity  with  the 
development  of  the  elaborate  state  religion.  Under  these 
circumstances  the  burden  inevitably  exceeded  the  powers  of 
one  man,  even  with  the  assistance  of  his  vizier.  From  the 
earliest  days  of  the  Old  Kingdom,  as  the  reader  will  recall, 
there  had  been  but  one  vizier.  Early  in  the  Eighteenth 
Dynasty,  however,  the  business  of  government  and  the  duties 
of  the  Pharaoh  had  so  increased  that  he  appointed  two 
viziers,  one  residing  at  Thebes,  for  the  administration  of 
the  South,  from  the  cataract  as  far  as  the  nome  of  Siut; 
while  the  other,  who  had  charge  of  all  the  region  north  of 
the  latter  point,  lived  at  Heliopolis.5  This  innovation  prob- 
ably took  place  after  the  transfer  of  the  southern  country 
between  El  Kab  and  the  cataract  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Nubian  province  to  that  of  the  vizier. 

For  administrative  purposes  the  country  was  divided  into 

1  IV,  541.  2  III,  170.  3  IV,  464. 

*  III,  58.  5  Inscription  of  Mes. 


THE  NEW  STATE:  SOCIETY  AND  RELIGION  237 


irregular  districts,  some  of  which  consisted  of  the  old  and 
strong  towns  of  feudal  days,  each  with  its  surrounding  vil- 
lages ;  while  others  contained  no  such  town  centre,  and  were 
evidently  arbitrary  divisions  established  solely  for  govern- 
mental reasons.  There  were  at  least  twenty  seven  such 
administrative  districts  between  Siut  and  the  cataract,1  and 
the  country  as  a  whole  must  have  been  divided  into  over 
twice  that  number.  The  head  of  government  in  the  old 
towns  still  bore  the  feudal  title  ' '  count, ' '  but  it  now  indicated 
solely  administrative  duties  and  might  better  be  translated 
"mayor"  or  1 ' governor. ' 7  Each  of  the  smaller  towns  had 
a  ' '  town-ruler, ' '  but  in  the  other  districts  there  were  only 
recorders  and  scribes,  with  one  of  their  number  at  their 
head.2  As  we  shall  see,  these  men  were  both  the  adminis- 
trators, chiefly  in  a  fiscal  capacity,  and  the  judicial  officials 
within  their  jurisdictions. 

The  great  object  of  government  was  to  make  the  country 
economically  strong  and  productive.  To  secure  this  end,  its 
lands,  now  chiefly  owned  by  the  crown,  were  worked  by  the 
king's  serfs,  controlled  by  his  officials,  or  entrusted  by  him 
as  permanent  and  indivisible  fiefs  to  his  favourite  nobles,  his 
partisans  and  relatives.  Divisible  parcels  might  also  be 
held  by  tenants  of  the  untitled  classes.  Both  classes  of  hold- 
ings might  be  transferred  by  will  or  sale  in  much  the  same 
way  as  if  the  holder  actually  owned  the  land.3  Other  royal 
property,  like  cattle  and  asses,  was  held  by  the  people  of 
both  classes,  subject,  like  the  lands,  to  an  annual  assessment 
for  its  use.  For  purposes  of  taxation  all  lands  and  other 
property  of  the  crown,  except  that  held  by  the  temples,  were 
recorded  in  the  tax-registers  of  the  White  House,  as  the 
treasury  was  still  called.  All  ' 'houses' '  or  estates  and  the 
"numbers  belonging  thereto,"4  were  entered  in  these  regis- 
ters. On  the  basis  of  these,  taxes  were  assessed.  They  were 
still  collected  m  naturalia :  cattle,  grain,  wine,  oil,  honey,  tex- 
tiles, and  the  like.    Besides  the  cattle-yards,  the  "granary" 

i  II,  716-745.  2  n,  717. 

s  Inscription  of  Mes.  '  *  II,  916.  1.  31 


238 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


was  the  chief  sub-department  of  the  White  House,  and  there 
were  innumerable  other  magazines  for  the  storage  of  its 
receipts.  All  the  products  which  filled  these  repositories 
were  termed  '  ■  labour, 9 '  the  word  employed  in  ancient  Egypt 
as  we  use  "taxes."  If  we  may  accept  Hebrew  tradition  as 
transmitted  in  the  story  of  Joseph,  such  taxes  comprised 
one  fifth  of  the  produce  of  the  land.1  It  was  collected  by 
the  local  officials,  whom  we  have  already  noticed,  and  its 
reception  in  and  payment  from  the  various  magazines  de- 
manded a  host  of  scribes  and  subordinates,  now  more  numer- 
ous than  ever  before  in  the  history  of  the  country.  The  chief 
treasurer  at  their  head  was  under  the  authority  of  the  vizier, 
to  whom  he  made  a  report  every  morning,  after  which  he 
received  permission  to  open  the  offices  and  magazines  for 
the  day's  business.2  The  collection  of  a  second  class  of 
revenue,  that  paid  by  the  local  officials  themselves  as  a  tax 
upon  their  offices,  was  exclusively  in  the  hands  of  the  viziers. 
The  southern  vizier  was  responsible  for  all  the  officials  of 
Upper  Egypt  in  his  jurisdiction  from  Elephantine  to  Siut;3 
and  in  view  of  this  fact,  the  other  vizier  doubtless  bore  a 
similar  responsibility  in  the  North.  This  tax  on  the  officials 
consisted  chiefly  of  gold,  silver,  grain,  cattle  and  linen;  the 
mayor  of  the  old  city  of  El  Kab,  for  example,  paid  some 
5,600  grains  of  gold,  4,200  grains  of  silver,  one  ox  and  one 
"two-year  old"  into  the  vizier's  office  every  year,  while  his 
subordinate  paid  4,200  grains  of  silver,  a  bead  necklace  of 
gold,  two  oxen  and  two  chests  of  linen.  Unfortunately  the 
list4  from  which  these  numbers  are  taken,  recorded  in  the 
tomb  of  the  vizier  Rekhmire  at  Thebes,  is  too  mutilated  to 
permit  the  calculation  of  the  exact  total  of  this  tax  on  all 
the  officials  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  southern  vizer;  but 
they  paid  him  annually  at  least  some  220,000  grains  of  gold, 
nine  gold  necklaces,  over  16,000  grains  of  silver,  some  forty 
chests  and  other  measures  of  linen,  one  hundred  and  six 
cattle  of  all  ages  and  some  grain ;  and  these  figures  are  short 

1  Gen.  47 :  23-27.  2  II,  679. 

■II,  716-745.  *Ibid. 


THE  NEW  STATE:  SOCIETY  AND  RELIGION  239 


by  probably  at  least  twenty  per  cent,  of  the  real  total.  As 
the  king  presumably  received  a  similar  amount  from  the 
northern  vizier's  collections,  this  tax  on  the  officials  formed 
a  stately  sum  in  the  annual  revenues.  We  can  unfortu- 
nately form  no  estimate  of  the  total  of  all  revenues.  Of  the 
royal  income  from  all  sources  in  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty 
the  southern  vizier  had  general  charge.  The  amount  of  all 
taxes  to  be  levied  and  the  distribution  of  the  revenue  when 
collected  were  determined  in  his  office,  where  a  constant  bal- 
ance sheet  was  kept.  In  order  to  control  both  income  and 
outgo,  a  monthly  fiscal  report  was  made  to  him  by  all  local 
officials,  and  thus  the  southern  vizier  was  able  to  furnish 
the  king  from  month  to  month  with  a  full  statement  of  pros- 
pective resources  in  the  royal  treasury.1  The  taxes  were  so 
dependent,  as  they  still  are,  upon  the  height  of  the  inunda- 
tion and  the  consequent  prospects  for  a  plentiful  or  scanty 
harvest,  that  the  level  of  the  rising  river  was  also  reported 
to  him.2  He  held  also  all  the  records  of  the  temple  estates, 
and  in  the  case  of  Amon,  whose  chief  sanctuary  was  in  the 
city  of  which  the  vizier  was  governor,  he  naturally  had 
charge  of  the  rich  temple  fortune,  even  ranking  the  High 
Priest  of  Amon  in  the  affairs  of  the  god's  estate.3  As  the 
income  of  the  crown  was,  from  now  on,  so  largely  augmented 
by  foreign  tribute,  this  was  also  received  by  the  southern 
vizier  and  by  him  communicated  to  the  king.  The  great 
vizier,  Rekhmire  depicts  himself  in  the  gorgeous  reliefs  in 
his  tomb  receiving  both  the  taxes  of  the  officials  who  ap- 
peared before  him  each  year  with  their  dues,4  and  the  tribute 
of  the  Asiatic  vassal-princes  and  Nubian  chiefs.5 

In  the  administration  of  justice  the  southern  vizier  played 
even  a  greater  role  than  in  the  treasury.  Here  he  was  su- 
preme. The  old  magnates  of  the  Southern  Tens,  once  pos- 
sessed of  important  judicial  functions,  have  sunk  to  a  mere 
attendant  council  at  the  vizier 's  public  audiences,6  where  they 
seem  to  have  retained  not  even  advisory  functions.  They 

1  11,708.  2  II,  709.  3  11,740-751. 

*  II,  716-745.  6  II,  760-761  '  H,  712. 


240 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


are  never  mentioned  in  the  court  records  of  the  time,  though 
they  still  live  in  poetry  and  their  old  fame  survived  even 
into  Greek  times.  The  vizier  continues  to  bear  his  tradi- 
tional title,  " chief  of  the  six  great  houses"  or  courts  of  jus- 
tice, but  these  are  never  referred  to  in  any  of  the  surviving 
legal  documents  and  have  evidently  disappeared  save  in  the 
title  of  the  vizier.  As  always  heretofore  the  officers  of  ad- 
ministration are  incidentally  the  dispensers  of  justice.  They 
constantly  serve  in  a  judicial  capacity.  Although  there  is 
no  class  of  judges  with  exclusively  legal  duties,  every  man 
of  important  administrative  rank  is  thoroughly  versed  in 
the  law  and  is  ready  at  any  moment  to  serve  as  judge.  The 
vizier  is  no  exception.  All  petitioners  for  legal  redress 
applied  first  to  him  in  his  audience  hall;  if  possible  in  per- 
son, but  in  any  case  in  writing.  For  this  purpose  he  held  a 
daily  audience  or  "sitting"  as  the  Egyptian  called  it.1 
Every  morning  the  people  crowded  into  the  "hall  of  the 
vizier,"  where  the  ushers  and  bailiffs  jostled  them  into  line 
that  they  might  "be  heard,"  in  order  of  arrival,  one  after 
another.2  In  cases  concerning  land  located  in  Thebes  he 
was  obliged  by  law  to  render  a  decision  in  three  days,  but 
if  the  land  lay  in  the  "South  or  North"  he  required  two 
months.3  This  was  while  he  was  still  the  only  vizier;  when 
the  North  received  its  own  vizier  such  cases  there  were  re- 
ferred to  him  at  Heliopolis.4  All  crimes  in  the  capital  city 
were  denounced  and  tried  before  him,  and  he  maintained  a 
criminal  docket  of  prisoners  awaiting  trial  or  punishment, 
which  strikingly  suggests  modern  documents  of  the  same 
sort.5  All  this,  and  especially  the  land  cases,  demanded 
rapid  and  convenient  access  to  the  archives  of  the  land. 
They  were  therefore  all  filed  in  his  offices.  No  one  might 
make  a  will  without  filing  it  in  the  "vizier's  hall."6  Copies 
of  all  nome  archives,  boundary  records  and  all  contracts  were 
deposited  with  him7  or  with  his  colleague  in  the  North.8  Every 

ill,  675,  714-715.  a  II,  715.  » II,  686. 

*  Inscription  of  Mes.  *  II,  683.  « II,  688. 

'  II,  703.  s  Inscription  of  Mes. 


THE  NEW  STATE:  SOCIETY  AND  RELIGION  241 


petitioner  to  the  king  was  obliged  to  hand  in  his  petition  in 
writing  at  the  same  office. 1 

Besides  the  vizier's  "hall,"  also  called  the  "great  coun- 
cil," there  were  local  courts  throughout  the  land,  not  pri- 
marily of  a  legal  character,  being,  as  we  have  already 
explained,  merely  the  body  of  administrative  officials  in  each 
district,  who  were  corporately  empowered  to  try  cases  with 
full  competence.  They  were  the  "great  men  of  the  town," 
or  the  local  "council,"  and  acted  as  the  local  representatives 
of  the  "great  council."  In  suits  involving  real  estate 
titles,  a  commissioner  of  the  "great  council"  was  sent  out 
to  execute  the  decisions  of  the  "great  council"  in  cooper- 
ation with  the  nearest  local  "council."  Or  sometimes  a 
hearing  before  the  local  "council"  was  necessary  before 
the  "great  council"  could  render  a  decision.2  The  num- 
ber of  these  local  courts  is  entirely  uncertain,  but  the  most 
important  two  known  were  at  Thebes  and  Memphis.  At 
Thebes  its  composition  varied  from  day  to  day;  in  cases 
of  a  delicate  nature,  where  the  members  of  the  royal 
house  were  implicated,  it  was  appointed  by  the  vizier,3  and 
in  case  of  conspiracy  against  the  ruler,  the  monarch  him- 
self commissioned  them,  though  without  partiality,  and 
with  instructions  merely  to  determine  who  were  the  guilty, 
accompanied  by  power  to  execute  the  sentence.4  All  courts 
were  largely  made  up  of  priests.  It  is  difficult  to  discern 
the  relation  of  these  courts  to  the  "hall  of  the  vizier,"  but 
in  at  least  one  case,  when  satisfaction  was  not  obtained  at 
the  vizier's  hall,  the  petitioner  recovered  a  stolen  slave  by 
suit  before  one  of  these  courts.5  They  did  not,  however, 
always  enjoy  the  best  reputation  among  the  people,  who 
bewailed  the  hapless  plight  of  "the  one  who  stands  alone 
before  the  court  when  he  is  a  poor  man  and  his  opponent  is 
rich,  while  the  court  oppresses  him  (saying),  'Silver  and 
gold  for  the  scribes!  Clothing  for  the  servants!'  "6  For 
of  course  the  bribe  of  the  rich  was  often  stronger  than  the 

1  II,  691.  2  Gardiner,  Inscription  of  Mes.  3  H)  705. 

•  IV,  423-4.      5  Spiegelberg,  Studien.  e  Pap.  Anast.  II,  8,  6. 

16 


242 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


justice  of  the  poor  man's  cause,  as  it  frequently  is  at  the 
present  day.  The  law  to  which  the  poor  appealed  was 
undoubtedly  just.  The  vizier  was  obliged  to  keep  it  con- 
stantly before  him,  contained  in  forty  rolls  which  were  laid 
out  before  his  dais  at  all  his  public  sessions  where  they  were 
doubtless  accessible  to  all.1  Unfortunately  the  code  which 
they  contained  has  perished,  but  of  its  justice  we  can  have 
no  doubt,  for  the  vizier  was  said  to  be  a  judge  "judging 
justly,  not  showing  partiality,  sending  two  men  [opponents] 
forth  satisfied,  judging  the  weak  and  the  powerful,"2  or 
again,  "not  preferring  the  great  above  the  humble,  reward- 
ing the  oppressed  .  .  .  ,  bringing  the  evil  to  him  who  com- 
mitted it."3  Even  the  king  dealt  according  to  law;  Amen- 
hotep  III  called  himself  in  his  titulary  "establisher  of  law," 
and  when  before  one  of  the  courts  which  we  have  already 
described,  the  king  boasts  that  "the  law  stood  firm;  I  did 
not  reverse  judgment,  but  in  view  of  the  facts  I  was  silent 
that  I  might  cause  jubilation  and  joy."4  Even  conspira- 
tors against  the  king 's  life  were  not  summarily  put  to  death, 
but,  as  we  have  seen,  were  handed  over  to  a  legally  con- 
stituted court  to  be  properly  tried,  and  condemned  only  when 
found  guilty.  The  punishments  inflicted  by  Haremhab 
upon  his  corrupt  officials  who  robbed  the  poor,  were  all 
according  to  "law."5  The  great  body  of  this  law  was  un- 
doubtedly very  old,6  and  some  of  it,  like  the  old  texts  of 
the  Book  of  the  Dead,  was  ascribed  to  the  gods ;  but  Harem- 
hab 's  new  regulations  were  new  law  enacted  by  him.6 
Diodorus  tells  of  five  different  kings  before  Persian  times 
who  enacted  new  laws,  and  in  the  Middle  Kingdom  even 
a  nobleman  relates  having  made  laws,  meaning,  of  course, 
that  he  had  formulated  them  at  the  king's  request.7  The 
social,  agricultural  and  industrial  world  of  the  Nile-dwellers 
under  the  Empire  was  therefore  not  at  the  mercy  of  arbi- 
trary whim  on  the  part  of  either  king  or  court,  but  was  gov- 
erned by  a  large  body  of  long  respected  law,  embodying  the 
principles  of  justice  and  humanity. 

-II,  675,  712.    2  11,  713.  »II,  715.        «  Spiegelberg.,  Studien. 

^  III,  51  ff.       c  See  above,  pp.  80-82.    'Ill,  65.        si,  531. 


THE  NEW  STATE:  SOCIETY  AND  RELIGION  243 


The  southern  vizier  was  the  motive  power  behind  the 
organization  and  operation  of  this  ancient  state.  We  recall 
that  he  went  in  every  morning  and  took  council  with  the 
Pharaoh  on  the  affairs  of  the  country;  and  the  only  other 
check  upon  his  untrammelled  control  of  the  state  was  a  law 
constraining  him  to  report  the  condition  of  his  office  to  the 
chief  treasurer.  Every  morning  as  he  came  forth  from  his 
interview  with  the  king  he  found  the  chief  treasurer  standing 
by  one  of  the  flag-staves  of  the  palace  front,  and  there  they 
exchanged  reports.1  The  vizier  then  unsealed  the  doors  of 
the  court  and  of  the  offices  of  the  royal  estate  so  that  the 
day's  business  might  begin;  and  during  the  day  all  ingress 
and  egress  at  these  doors  was  reported  to  him,  whether  of 
persons  or  of  property  of  any  sort.2  His  office  was  the 
means  of  communication  with  the  local  authorities,  who 
reported  to  him  in  writing  on  the  first  day  of  each  season, 
that  is,  three  times  a  year.3  It  is  in  his  office  that  we  discern 
with  unmistakable  clearness  the  complete  centralization  of 
all  local  government  in  all  its  functions.  This  supervision 
of  the  local  administration  required  frequent  journeys  and 
there  was  therefore  an  official  barge  of  the  vizier  on  the 
river  in  which  he  passed  from  place  to  place.  It  was  he 
who  detailed  the  king's  bodyguard  for  service  as  well  as 
the  garrison  of  the  residence  city  ;4  general  army  orders  pro- 
ceeded from  his  office  ;5  the  forts  of  the  South  were  under  his 
control;6  and  the  officials  of  the  navy  all  reported  to  him.7 
He  was  thus  minister  of  war  for  both  army  and  navy,  and 
in  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  at  least,  "when  the  king  was 
with  the  army,"  he  conducted  the  administration  at  home.8 
He  had  legal  control  of  the  temples  throughout  the  country,, 
or,  as  the  Egyptian  put  it,  "he  established  laws  in  the  tem- 
ples of  the  gods  of  the  South  and  the  North,"9  so  that  he 
was  minister  of  ecclesiastical  affairs.  He  had  economic 
oversight  of  many  important  resources  of  the  country;  no 
timber  could  be  cut  without  his  permission,  and  the  admin- 

i  II,  678-9.  2  II,  676,  680.  3  II,  687,  692,  708,  711.  4  II,  693-4. 
5  11,695.  6  11,  702.  7  II,  710.      8  11,710.  9  II,  757, 


244 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


istration  of  irrigation  and  water  supply  was  also  under  his 
charge.1  In  order  to  establish  the  calendar  for  state  busi- 
ness, the  rising  of  Sirius  was  reported  to  him.2  He  exer- 
cised advisory  functions  in  all  the  offices  of  the  state;3  so 
long  as  his  office  was  undivided  with  a  vizier  of  the  North 
he  was  grand  steward  of  all  Egypt,  and  there  was  no  prime 
function  of  the  state  which  did  not  operate  immediately  or 
secondarily  through  his  office,  while  all  others  were  obliged 
to  report  to  it  or  work  more  or  less  closely  in  connection 
with  it.  He  was  a  veritable  Joseph  and  it  must  have  been 
this  office  which  the  Hebrew  narrator  had  in  mind  as  that 
to  which  Joseph  was  appointed.  He  was  regarded  by  the 
people  as  their  great  protector  and  no  higher  praise  could 
be  proffered  to  Amon  when  addressed  by  a  worshipper  than 
to  call  him  "the  poor  man's  vizier  who  does  not  accept  the 
bribe  of  the  guilty."4  His  appointment  was  a  matter  of 
such  importance  that  it  was  conducted  by  the  king  himself% 
and  the  instructions  given  him  by  the  monarch  on  that  occa- 
sion were  not  such  as  we  should  expect  from  the  lips  of  an 
oriental  conqueror  three  thousand  five  hundred  years  ago. 
They  display  a  spirit  of  kindness  and  humanity  and  exhibit 
an  appreciation  of  state  craft  surprising  in  an  age  so  remote. 
The  king  tells  the  vizier  that  he  shall  conduct  himself  as 
one  "not  setting  his  face  toward  the  princes  and  councillors, 
neither  one  making  brethren  of  all  the  people";5  again  he 
says,  "  It  is  an  abomination  of  the  god  to  show  partiality.  This 
is  the  teaching :  thou  shalt  do  the  like,  shalt  regard  him  who 
is  known  to  thee  like  him  who  is  unknown  to  thee,  and  him 
who  is  near  .  .  .  like  him  who  is  far.  .  .  .  Such  an  official 
shall  flourish  greatly  in  the  place.  ...  Be  not  enraged 
toward  a  man  unjustly  .  .  .  but  show  forth  the  fear  of  thee; 
let  one  be  afraid  of  thee,  for  a  prince  is  a  prince  of  whom 
one  is  afraid.  Lo,  the  true  dread  of  a  prince  is  to  do  jus- 
tice. ...  Be  not  known  to  the  people  and  they  shall  not  say, 
'He  is  only  a  man.'  "6    Even  the  vizier's  subordinates  are 


»  II,  697-8.  2  II,  709.  3  II,  696. 

«  Pap.  Anast.  II,  6,  5-6.  «  II,  666.  «  II,  668-9. 


THE  NEW  STATE:  SOCIETY  AND  RELIGION  245 


to  be  men  of  justice,  for  the  king  admonishes  the  new  vizier, 
"Lo,  one  shall  say  of  the  chief  scribe  of  the  vizier,  'A  scribe 
of  justice'  shall  one  say  of  him."1  In  a  land  where  the 
bribery  of  the  court  still  begins  with  the  lowest  subordinates 
before  access  is  gained  to  the  magistrates,  such  "justice" 
was  necessary  indeed.  The  viziers  of  the  Eighteenth  Dy- 
nasty desired  the  reputation  of  hard  working,  conscientious 
officials,  who  took  the  greatest  pride  in  the  proper  adminis- 
tration of  the  office.  Several  of  them  have  left  a  record  of 
their  installation,  with  a  long  list  of  the  duties  of  the  office, 
engraved  and  painted  upon  the  walls  of  their  Theban  tombs, 
and  it  is  from  these  that  we  have  drawn  our  account  of  the 
vizier. 2 

Such  was  the  government  of  the  imperial  age  in  Egypt. 
In  society  the  disappearance  of  the  landed  nobility,  and  the 
administration  of  the  local  districts  by  a  vast  army  of  petty 
officials  of  the  crown,  opened  the  way  more  fully  than  in 
the  Middle  Kingdom  for  innumerable  careers  among  the 
middle  class.  These  opportunities  must  have  worked  a 
gradual  change  in  their  condition.  Thus  one  official  relates 
his  obscure  origin  thus:  "Ye  shall  talk  of  it,  one  to  another, 
and  the  old  men  shall  teach  it  to  the  youth.  I  was  one  whose 
family  was  poor  and  whose  town  was  small,  but  the  Lord 
of  the  Two  Lands  [the  king]  recognized  me;  I  was  accounted 
great  in  his  heart,  the  king  in  his  role  as  sun-god  in  the 
splendour  of  his  palace  saw  me.  He  exalted  me  more  than 
the  [royal]  companions,  introducing  me  among  the  princes 
of  the  palace.  ...  He  appointed  me  to  conduct  works  while 
I  was  a  youth,  he  found  me,  I  was  made  account  of  in  his 
heart,  I  was  introduced  into  the  gold-house  to  fashion  the 
figures  and  images  of  all  the  gods."3  Here  he  administered 
his  office  so  well  in  overseeing  the  production  of  the  costly 
images  of  gold  that  he  was  rewarded  publicly  with  decora- 
tions of  gold  by  the  king  and  even  gained  place  in  the 
councils  of  the  treasury.    Such  possibilities  of  promotion 


»  n,  670.  2  n,  065-761. 

3  Unpublished  stela  in  Leyden  (V>  I),  by  courtesy  of  the  curator. 


246 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


and  royal  favour  awaited  success  in  local  administration; 
for  in  some  local  office  the  career  of  this  unknown  official  in 
the  small  town  must  have  begun.  There  thus  grew  up  a 
new  official  class,  its  lower  ranks  drawn  from  the  old  middle 
class,  while  on  the  other  hand  in  its  upper  strata  were  the 
relatives  and  dependents  of  the  old  landed  nobility,  by 
whom  the  higher  and  more  important  local  offices  were 
administered.  Here  the  official  class  gradually  merged  into 
the  large  circle  of  royal  favourites  who  filled  the  great  offices 
of  the  central  government  or  commanded  the  Pharaoh's 
forces  on  his  campaigns.  As  there  was  no  longer  a  feudal 
nobility,  the  great  government  officials  became  the  nobles  of 
the  Empire.  The  old  middle  class  of  merchants,1  skilled 
craftsmen  and  artists  also  still  survived  and  continued  to 
replenish  the  lower  ranks  of  the  official  class.  Below  these 
were  the  masses  who  worked  the  fields  and  estates,  the  serfs 
of  the  Pharaoh.  They  formed  so  large  a  portion  of  the 
inhabitants  that  the  Hebrew  scribe,  evidently  writing  from 
the  outside,  knew  only  this  class  of  society  beside  the  priests. 2 
These  lower  strata  passed  away  and  left  little  or  no  trace, 
but  the  official  class  was  now  able  to  erect  tombs  and  mor- 
tuary stelse  in  such  surprising  numbers  that  they  furnish 
us  a  vast  mass  of  materials  for  reconstructing  the  life  and 
customs  of  the  time.  An  official  who  took  a  census  in  the 
Eighteenth  Dynasty  divided  the  people  into  "  soldiers, 
priests,  royal  serfs  and  all  the  craftsmen, " 3  and  this  clas- 
sification is  corroborated  by  all  that  we  know  of  the  time; 
although  we  must  understand  that  all  callings  of  the  free 
middle  class  are  here  included  among  the  "soldiers."  The 
soldier  in  the  standing  army  has  therefore  now  also  become 
a  social  class.  The  free  middle  class,  liable  to  military  ser- 
vice, are  called  "citizens  of  the  army,"  a  term  already 
known  in  the  Middle  Kingdom,4  but  now  very  common;  so 
that  liability  to  military  service  becomes  the  significant  des- 
ignation of  this  class  of  society.  Politically  the  soldier's 
influence  grows  with  every  reign  and  he  soon  becomes  the 

1  III,  274.  *Ge«.  47:  21.  an,  p.  165,  note  a.        *  I,  681. 


THE  NEW  STATE:  SOCIETY  AND  RELIGION  247 


involuntary  reliance  of  the  Pharaoh  in  the  execution  of 
numerous  civil  commissions  where  formerly  the  soldier  was 
never  employed.  Side  by  side  with  him  appears  another 
new  and  powerful  influence,  the  ancient  institution  of  the 
priesthood.  As  a  natural  consequence  of  the  great  wealth 
of  the  temples  under  the  Empire,  the  priesthood  becomes 
a  profession,  no  longer  merely  an  incidental  office  held  by 
a  layman,  as  in  the  Old  and  Middle  Kingdoms.  As  the 
priests  increase  in  numbers  they  gain  more  and  more  polit- 
ical power ;  while  the  growing  wealth  of  the  temples  demands 
for  its  proper  administration  a  veritable  army  of  temple 
officials  of  all  sorts,  who  were  unknown  to  the  old  days  of 
simplicity.  Probably  one  fourth  of  all  the  persons  buried 
in  the  great  and  sacred  cemetery  of  Abydos  at  this  period 
were  priests.  Priestly  communities  had  thus  grown  up. 
Heretofore  the  priests  of  the  various  sanctuaries  had  never 
been  united  by  any  official  ties,  but  existed  only  in  individual 
and  entirely  separated  communities  without  interrelation. 
All  these  priestly  bodies  were  now  united  in  a  great  sacer- 
dotal organization  embracing  the  whole  land.  The  head  of 
the  state  temple  at  Thebes,  the  High  Priest  of  Anion,  was 
the  supreme  head  of  this  greater  body  also  and  his  power 
was  thereby  increased  far  beyond  that  of  his  older  rivals 
at  Heliopolis  and  Memphis.  The  members  of  the  sacerdotal 
guild  thus  became  a  new  class,  so  that  priest,  soldier  and 
official  now  stood  together  as  three  great  social  classes,  yet 
possessing  common  interests;  their  leaders  were  the  Phar- 
aoh's nobles,  who  replaced  the  old  aristocracy;  but  their 
lower  ranks  were  not  to  be  distinguished  from  the  free  middle 
class,  the  tradesmen  and  craftsmen ;  while  at  the  bottom,  as 
the  chief  economic  basis  of  all,  were  the  peasant  serfs. 

The  priests  whom  we  now  find  so  numerous  as  to  have 
become  a  class  of  society,  were  the  representatives  of  a  richer 
and  more  elaborate  state  religion  than  Egypt  had  ever  seen. 
The  days  of  the  old  simplicity  were  forever  past.  The  wealth 
gained  by  foreign  conquest  enabled  the  Pharaohs  from  now 
on  to  endow  the  temples  with  such  riches  as  no  sanctuary 


248 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


of  the  old  days  had  ever  possessed.  The  temples  grew  into 
vast  and  gorgeous  palaces,  each  with  its  community  of 
priests,  and  the  high  priest  of  such  a  community  in  the  larger 
centres  was  a  veritable  sacerdotal  prince,  ultimately  wield- 
ing considerable  political  power.  The  High  Priest's  wife  at 
Thebes  was  called  the  chief  concubine  of  the  god,  and  his 
real  consort  was  no  less  a  person  than  the  queen  herself, 
who  was  therefore  known  as  the  " Divine  Consort."  In  the 
gorgeous  ritual  which  now  prevailed,  her  part  was  to  lead 
the  singing  of  the  women  who  were  also  still  permitted  to 
participate  in  the  service  in  large  numbers.  She  possessed 
also  a  fortune,  which  belonged  to  the  temple  endowment, 
and  for  this  reason  it  was  desirable  that  the  queen  should 
hold  the  office  in  order  to  retain  this  fortune  in  the  royal 
house. 

The  triumph  of  a  Theban  family  had  brought  with  it  the 
supremacy  of  Amon.  He  had  not  been  the  god  of  the  resi- 
dence in  the  Middle  Kingdom,  and  although  the  rise  of  a 
Theban  family  had  then  given  him  some  distinction,  it  was 
not  until  now  that  he  became  the  great  god  of  the  state.  His 
essential  character  and  individuality  had  already  been  oblit- 
erated by  the  solar  theology  of  the  Middle  Kingdom,  when 
he  had  become  Amon-Re,  and  with  some  attributes  borrowed 
from  his  ithyphallic  neighbour,  Min  of  Coptos,  he  now  rose 
to  a  unique  and  supreme  position  of  unprecedented  splen- 
dour. He  was  popular  with  the  people,  too,  and  as  a  Moslem 
says,  "Inshallah,"  "If  Allah  will,"  so  the  Egyptian  now 
added  to  all  his  promises  "If  Amon  spare  my  life."  They 
called  him  the  "vizier  of  the  poor,"  the  people  carried  to 
him  their  wants  and  wishes,  and  their  hopes  for  future  pros- 
perity were  implicitly  staked  upon  his  favour.  But  the 
fusion  of  the  old  gods  had  not  deprived  Amon  alone  of  his 
individuality,  for  in  the  general  flux  almost  any  god  might 
possess  the  qualities  and  functions  of  the  others,  although 
the  dominant  position  was  still  occupied  by  the  sun-god. 

The  mortuary  beliefs  of  the  time  are  the  outgrowth  of 
tendencies  already  plainly  observable  in  the  Middle  King- 


THE  NEW  STATE:  SOCIETY  AND  RELIGION  249 


dom.  The  magical  formulae  by  which  the  dead  are  to 
triumph  in  the  hereafter  become  more  and  more  numerous, 
so  that  it  is  no  longer  possible  to  record  them  on  the  inside 
of  the  coffin,  but  they  must  be  written  on  papyrus  and  the  roll 
placed  in  the  tomb.  As  the  selection  of  the  most  important 
of  these  texts  came  to  be  more  and  more  uniform,  the  1 1  Book 
of  the  Dead"  began  to  take  form.  All  was  dominated  by 
magic;  by  this  all-powerful  means  the  dead  might  effect 
all  that  he  desired.  The  luxurious  lords  of  the  Empire  no 
longer  look  forward  with  pleasure  to  the  prospect  of  plowing, 
sowing  and  reaping  in  the  happy  fields  of  Yaru.  They 
would  escape  such  peasant  labour,  and  a  statuette  (Fig. 

106)  bearing  the  implements  of  labour  in  the  field  and  in- 
scribed with  a  potent  charm  is  placed  in  the  tomb,  thereby 
ensuring  to  the  deceased  immunity  from  such  toil,  which 
will  always  be  performed  by  this  representative  whenever 
the  call  to  the  fields  is  heard.  Such  1 '  Ushebtis, ' '  or  "  respon- 
dents, ' '  as  they  were  termed,  were  now  placed  in  the  necrop- 
olis by  scores  and  hundreds.  But  this  means  of  obtaining 
material  good  was  now  unfortunately  transferred  also  to  the 
ethical  world,  in  order  to  secure  exemption  from  the  conse- 
quences of  an  evil  life.    A  sacred  beetle  or  scarabaeus  (Fig. 

107)  is  cut  from  stone  and  inscribed  with  a  charm,  beginning 
with  the  significant  words,  "0  my  heart,  rise  not  up  against 
me  as  a  witness."  So  powerful  is  this  cunning  invention 
when  laid  upon  the  breast  of  the  mummy  under  the  wrap- 
pings that  when  the  guilty  soul  stands  in  the  judgment-hall 
in  the  awful  presence  of  Osiris,  the  accusing  voice  of  the 
heart  is  silenced  and  the  great  god  does  not  perceive  the 
evil  of  which  it  would  testify.  Likewise  the  rolls  of  the 
Book  of  the  Dead  containing,  besides  all  the  other  charms, 
also  the  scene  of  judgment,  and  especially  the  welcome  ver- 
dict of  acquittal,  are  now  sold  by  the  priestly  scribes  to 
anyone  with  the  means  to  buy;  and  the  fortunate  purchaser's 
name  is  then  inserted  in  the  blanks  left  for  this  purpose 
throughout  the  document ;  thus  securing  for  himself  the  cer- 
tainty of  such  a  verdict,  before  it  was  known  whose  name 


250 


A  HISTORY  OP  EGYPT 


should  be  so  inserted.  The  invention  of  these  devices  by  the 
priests  was  undoubtedly  as  subversive  of  moral  progress  and 
the  elevation  of  the  popular  religion  as  the  sale  of  indul- 
gences in  Luther's  time.  The  moral  aspirations  which  had 
come  into  the  religion  of  Egypt  with  the  ethical  influences 
so  potent  in  the  Osiris-myth,  were  now  choked  and  poisoned 
by  the  assurance  that,  however  vicious  a  man's  life,  exemp- 
tion in  the  hereafter  could  be  purchased  at  any  time  from 
the  priests.  The  priestly  literature  on  the  hereafter,  pro- 
duced probably  for  no  other  purpose  than  for  gain,  continued 
to  grow.  We  have  a  "Book  of  What  is  in  the  Nether 
WTorld,"  describing  the  twelve  caverns,  or  hours  of  the 
night  through  which  the  sun  passed  beneath  the  earth;  and 
a  "Book  of  the  Portals,"  treating  of  the  gates  and  strong- 
holds between  these  caverns.  Although  these  edifying  com- 
positions never  gained  the  wide  circulation  enjoyed  by  the 
Book  of  the  Dead,  the  former  of  the  two  was  engraved  in 
the  tombs  of  the  Nineteenth  and  Twentieth  Dynasty  kings 
at  Thebes,  showing  that  these  grotesque  creations  of  the  per- 
verted priestly  imagination  finally  gained  the  credence  of 
the  highest  circles. 

The  tomb  of  the  noble  consists  as  before  of  chambers 
hewn  in  the  face  of  the  cliff,  and  in  accordance  with  the  pre- 
vailing tendency  it  is  now  filled  with  imaginary  scenes  from 
the  next  world,  with  mortuary  and  religious  texts,  many  of 
them  of  a  magical  character.  At  the  same  time  the  tomb 
has  become  more  a  personal  monument  to  the  deceased  and 
the  walls  of  the  chapel  bear  many  scenes  from  his  life,  espe- 
cially from  his  official  career,  particularly  as  a  record  of 
the  honours  which  he  received  from  the  king.  Thus  the  cliffs 
opposite  Thebes  (Figs.  131,  166),  honey-combed  as  they  are 
with  the  tombs  of  the  lords  of  the  Empire,  contain  whole 
chapters  of  the  life  and  history  of  the  period,  with  which 
we  shall  now  deal.  In  a  solitary  valley  (Fig.  108)  behind 
these  cliffs,  as  we  shall  see,  the  kings  now  likewise  excavate 
their  tombs  in  the  limestone  walls  and  the  pyramid  is  no 
longer  employed.  Vast  galleries  (Figs.  109,  110)  are  pierced 


Fig.  107.— HEART  SCARAB  OF  THE  "FIRST 
OF  THE  SACRED  WOMEN  OF  AMON, 
ISIMK.HEB."  See  p.  249.  (Field  Museum, 
Chicago.) 


Fig.  108  — PART  OF  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  KINGS'  TOMBS,  THEBES. 
The  entrances  of  two  tombs  are  discernible  at  the  right  of  the  center.    See  pp.  250-51;  279-80. 


THE  NEW  STATE:  SOCIETY  AND  RELIGION  251 


into  the  mountain,  and  passing  from 
hall  to  hall,  they  terminate  many  hun- 
dreds of  feet  from  the  entrance  in  a 
large  chamber,  where  the  body  of  the 
king  is  laid  in  a  huge  stone  sarcoph- 
agus. It  is  possible  that  the  whole 
excavation  is  intended  to  represent  the 
passages  of  the  nether  world  along 
which  the  sun  passes  in  his  nightly 
journey.  On  the  western  plain  of 
Thebes,  the  plain  east  of  this  valley, 
as  on  the  east  side  of  the  pyramid, 
arose  the  splendid  mortuary  temples 
of  the  emperors,  of  which  we  shall 
later  have  occasion  to  say  more.  But 
these  elaborate  mortuary  customs  are 
now  no  longer  confined  to  the  Pharaoh 
and  his  nobles;  the  necessity  for  such 
equipment  in  preparation  for  the  here- 
after is  now  felt  by  all  classes.  The 
manufacture  of  such  materials,  result- 
ing from  the  gradual  extension  of  these 
customs,  has  become  an  industry;  the 
embalmers,  undertakers  and  manufac- 
turers of  coffins  and  tomb  furniture 
occupy  a  quarter  at  Thebes,  forming 
almost  a  guild  by  themselves,  as  they 
did  in  later  Greek  times.  The  middle 
class  were  now  frequently  able  to  exca- 
vate and  decorate  a  tomb;  but  when 
too  poor  for  this  luxury,  they  rented  a 
place  for  their  dead  in  great  common 
tombs  maintained  by  the  priests,  and 
here  the  embalmed  body  was  deposited 
in  a  chamber  where  the  mummies  were 
piled  up  like  cord-wood,  but  neverthe- 
less received  the  benefit  of  the  ritual 


Fig.  109.  Ground  Plan  of  the 
Tomb  of  Seti  I,  excavated  in  the 
Valley  of  the  Kings'  Tombs  at 
Thebes.  The  shaded  portions 
are  descending  steps.  I-TV  and 
VII-IX  are  galleries,  which 
descend  as  they  advance.  The 
other  rooms  are  pillared  halls. 
In  hall  X  was  the  magnificent 
alabaster  sarcophagus  of  the 
king,  now  in  Sir  John  Soane's 
Museum  in  London. 


252 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


maintained  for  all  in  common.  The  very  poor  still  buried 
in  the  sand  and  gravel  on  the  desert  margin  as  of  old, 
but  even  they  looked  with  longing  upon  the  luxury  enjoyed 
in  the  hereafter  by  the  rich,  and  at  the  door  of  some  lux- 
urious tomb  they  buried  a  rude  statuette  of  their  dead, 
bearing  his  name,  in  the  pathetic  hope  that  thus  he  might 
gain  a  few  crumbs  from  the  bounty  of  the  rich  man's  mor- 
tuary table. 

Out  of  the  chaos  which  the  rule  of  foreign  lords  had  pro- 
duced, the  new  state  and  the  new  conditions  slowly  emerged 
as  Ahmose  I  gradually  gained  leisure  from  his  arduous  wars. 
With  the  state  religion,  the  foreign  dynasty  had  shown  no 
sympathy  and  the  temples  lay  wasted  and  deserted  in  many 
places.  We  find  Ahmose  therefore  in  his  twenty  second 
year  opening  new  workings  in  the  famous  quarries  of  Ayan 
or  Troja,  opposite  Gizeh,  from  which  the  blocks  for  the  Gizeh 
pyramids  were  taken,  in  order  to  secure  stone  for  the  tem- 
ples in  Memphis,  Thebes  (Luxor)  and  probably  elsewhere.1 
For  these  works  he  still  employed  the  oxen  which  he  had 
taken  from  the  Syrians  in  his  Asiatic  wars.  None  of  these 
buildings  of  his,  however,  has  survived.  For  the  ritual  of 
the  state  temple  at  Karnak  he  furnished  the  sanctuary  with 
a  magnificent  service  of  rich  cultus  utensils  in  precious 
metals,  and  he  built  a  new  temple-barge  upon  the  river  of 
cedar  exacted  from  the  Lebanon  princes.2  His  greatest  work 
remains  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  itself,  for  whose  brilliant 
career  his  own  achievements  had  laid  so  firm  a  foundation. 
Notwithstanding  his  reign  of  at  least  twenty  two  years, 
Ahmose  must  have  died  young  (1557  B.  C.)  for  his  mother 
was  still  living  in  the  tenth  year  of  his  son  and  successor, 
Amenhotep  I.3  By  him4  he  was  buried  in  the  old  Eleventh 
Dynasty  cemetery  at  the  north  end  of  the  western  Theban 
plain  in  a  masonry  tomb,  which  has  now  long  perished.  The 
jewelry  of  his  mother  (Fig.  103),  stolen  from  her  neigh- 
bouring tomb  at  a  remote  date,  was  found  by  Mariette  con- 
cealed in  the  vicinity.  The  body  of  Ahmose  I,  as  well  as 
this  jewelry,  are  now  preserved  in  the  Museum  at  Cairo. 


J  II,  26-28,  33  ff.       2  n,  32. 


•II,  49-51.        *Masp.  Mom.  roy.,  534. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  CONSOLIDATION  OF  THE  KINGDOM;  THE  KISE 
OF  THE  EMPIRE 

The  time  was  not  yet  ripe  for  the  great  achievements 
which  awaited  the  monarchs  of  the  new  dynasty.  The  old 
dominion  of  the  Middle  Kingdom,  from  the  second  cataract 
to  the  sea,  was  still  far  from  the  consolidation  necessary  to 
retain  it  in  administrative  and  industrial  stability.  Nubia 
had  been  long  without  a  strong  arm  from  the  north  and  the 
southern  rebels  in  Egypt  had  prevented  Ahmose  I  from  con- 
tinuous exertion  of  force  above  the  cataract.  The  Troglo- 
dytes, who  later  harassed  the  Romans  on  this  same  frontier, 
and  who  were  never  thoroughly  subdued  by  them,  now  pos- 
sessed a  leader,  and  Ahmose 's  campaign  against  them  had 
not  been  lasting  in  its  effects.  It  was  easy  for  these  bar- 
barians to  retreat  into  the  eastern  desert  as  the  Egyptians 
approached,  and  then  return  after  the  danger  had  passed. 
Amenhotep  I,  Ahmose 's  successor,  was  therefore  obliged  to 
invade  Nubia  in  force  and  penetrated  to  the  Middle  Kingdom 
frontier  at  the  second  cataract,1  where  the  temple  of  the 
Sesostrises  and  Amenemhets  had  long  been  in  the  hands 
of  the  barbarians,  and  was  doubtless  in  ruin.  The  two 
Ahmoses  of  El  Kab  were  with  the  king,  and  Ahmose,  son 
of  Ebana,  reports  that " his  majesty  captured  that  Troglodyte 
of  Nubia  in  the  midst  of  his  soldiers."2  With  the  loss  of 
their  leader,  there  was  but  one  outcome  for  the  action ;  both 
the  Ahmoses  captured  prisoners,  displayed  great  gallantry 
and  were  rewarded  by  the  king.3  Northern  Nubia  was  now 
placed  under  the  administration  of  the  mayor  or  governor 
of  the  old  city  of  Nekhen,  which  now  became  the  northern 

i  II,  38-9.  «  II,  39:  »  II,  39,  41. 

253 


254 


A  HISTORY  OP  EGYPT 


limit  of  a  southern  administrative  district,  including  all  the 
territory  on  the  south  of  it,  controlled  by  Egypt,  at  least  as 
far  as  northern  Nubia,  or  Wawat.  From  this  time  the  new 
governor  was  able  to  go  north  with  the  tribute  of  the  country 
regularly  every  year.1 

Hardly  had  Amenhotep  I  won  his  victory  at  the  second 
cataract,  than  another  danger  on  the  opposite  frontier  in 
the  north  recalled  him  thither.  Ahmose,  son  of  Ebana, 
boasts  that  he  brought  the  king  back  to  Egypt  in  his  ship, 
probably  from  the  second  cataract,  that  is  some  two  hun- 
dred miles,  in  two  days.2  The  long  period  of  weakness  and 
disorganization  accompanying  the  rule  of  the  Hyksos  had 
given  the  Libyans  the  opportunity,  which  they  always  im- 
proved, of  pushing  in  and  occupying  the  rich  lands  of  the 
Delta.  Though  our  only  source  does  not  mention  any  such 
invasion,  it  is  evident  that  Amenhotep  Fs  war  with  the 
Libyans  at  this  particular  time  can  be  explained  in  no  other 
way.  Finding  their  aggressions  too  threatening  to  be  longer 
ignored,  the  Pharaoh  now  drove  them  back  and  invaded  their 
country.  We  know  nothing  of  the  battles  that  may  have 
been  fought,  but  Amose-Pen-Nekhbet  of  El  Kab  states  that 
he  slew  three  of  the  enemy  and  brought  away  their  severed 
hands,  for  which  he  was  of  course  rewarded  by  the  king.3 
Having  relieved  his  frontiers  and  secured  Nubia,  Amen- 
hotep was  at  liberty  to  turn  his  arms  toward  Asia.  Unfor- 
tunately we  have  no  records  of  his  Syrian  war,  but  he  pos- 
sibly penetrated  far  to  the  north,  even  to  the  Euphrates. 
In  any  case  he  accomplished  enough  to  enable  his  successor 
to  boast  of  ruling  as  far  as  the  Euphrates,4  before  the  latter 
had  himself  undertaken  any  Asiatic  conquests.  Whether 
from  this  war  or  some  other  source  he  gained  wealth  for 
richly  wrought  buildings  at  Thebes,  including  a  chapel  on 
the  western  plain  for  his  tomb5  there,  and  a  superb  temple- 
gate  at  Karnak,  later  demolished  by  Thutmose  III.6  The 
architect  who  erected  these  buildings,  all  of  which  have  per- 

>  II,  47-48.  2  n5  39,  ii.  27-28.  3  II,  42,  22.  *  II,  73. 

5 IV,  513  and  notes,   e  Bull,  de  Flnst.,  4me  ser.,  No.  3,  164-5. 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  EMPIRE 


255 


ished,  narrates  the  king's  death  at  Thebes,  after  a  reign  of 
at  least  ten  years.1 

Whether  Amenhotep  left  a  son  entitled  to  the  throne  or 
not,  we  do  not  know.  His  successor,  Thutmose  I,  was  the 
son  of  a  woman  whose  birth  and  family  are  of  doubtful  con- 
nection, and  she  was  almost  certainly  not  of  royal  blood. 
Her  great  son  evidently  owed  his  accession  to  the  kingship 
to  his  marriage  with  a  princess  of  the  old  line,  named 
Ahmose,  through  whom  he  could  assert  a  valid  claim  to  the 
throne.  On  making  good  this  claim,  he  lost  no  time  in 
issuing  a  proclamation  announcing  throughout  the  kingdom 
that  he  had  been  crowned.  This  occurred  about  January, 
1540  or  1535  B.  C.  The  officials  in  Nubia  regarded  the  proc- 
lamation of  sufficient  importance  to  engrave  it  on  tablets 
which  they  set  up  at  Wadi  Haifa,  Kubban  and  perhaps  else- 
where.2 The  official  to  whom  this  action  was  due  had  reason 
to"  make  evident  his  adherence  to  the  new  king,  for  he  had 
been  appointed  to  a  new  and  important  office  immediately 
on  the  king's  accession.  It  was  no  longer  possible  for  the 
mayor  of  Nekhen  to  administer  Nubia  and  collect  the  tribute. 
The  country  demanded  the  sole  attention  of  a  responsible 
governor  who  was  practically  a  viceroy.  He  was  given  the 
title  "Governor  of  the  south  countries,  king's-son  of  Kush, " 
although  he  was  not  necessarily  a  member  of  the  royal  house- 
hold or  of  royal  birth.  With  great  ceremony,  in  the  presence 
of  the  Pharaoh,  one  of  the  treasury  officials  was  wont  to 
deliver  to  the  incumbent  the  seal  of  his  new  office,  saying: 
"This  is  the  seal  from  the  Pharaoh,  who  assigns  to  thee  the 
territory  from  Nekhen  to  Napata."3  The  jurisdiction  of  the 
viceroy  thus  extended  to  the  fourth  cataract,  and  it  was  the 
region  between  this  southern  limit  and  the  second  cataract 
which  was  known  as  Kush.  There  was  still  no  great  or  domi- 
nant kingdom  in  Kush,  nor  in  lower  Nubia,  but  the  country 
was  under  the  rule  of  powerful  chiefs,  each  controlling  a 
limited  territory.  It  was  impossible  to  suppress  these  native 
rulers  at  once  and  nearly  two  hundred  years  after  this  we 

i  II,  45-6.  2 II,  54-60.  ?  II,  1020-25. 


256 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


still  find  the  chiefs  of  Kush  and  a  chief  of  Wawat  as  far 
north  as  Ibrim.1  Although  possessing  only  a  nominal  au 
thority,  it  was  but  slowly  that  they  were  replaced  by  Egyp- 
tian administrative  officers.  Moreover,  in  Thutmose  I's 
time  the  southern  half  of  the  new  province  was  far  from 
being  sufficiently  pacified.  The  appointment  of  Thure,  the 
first  viceroy,  therefore  brought  him  a  serious  task.  The 
turbulent  tribes  from  the  hills  above  the  Nile  valley  were 
constantly  raiding  the  towns  along  the  river2  and  making 
stable  government  and  the  orderly  development  of  the  coun- 
try's  natural  resources  impossible.  Seeing  that  Thure  was 
unable  to  stop  this,  the  king  went  south  early  in  his  second 
year  personally  to  oversee  the  task  of  more  thorough  sub- 
jugation. Arriving  at  the  first  cataract  in  February  or 
March,  he  found  the  canal  through  the  rapids  obstructed 
with  stone,3  just  as  it  had  perhaps  been  since  Hyksos  days. 
Desirous  of  losing  no  time,  and  anxious  to  take  advantage 
of  the  fast  falling  water,  he  did  not  stop  to  clear  it,  but 
forced  the  rapids  with  the  aid  of  the  admiral,  Ahmose,  son 
of  Ebana,  whose  exploits  we  have  followed  so  long.  This 
officer  now  again  distinguished  himself  "in  the  bad  water 
in  the  passage  of  the  ship  by  the  bend, ' '  presumably  in  the 
cataract,  and  was  again  liberally  rewarded  by  the  king.4  By 
early  April  Thutmose  had  reached  Tangur,  about  seventy 
five  miles  above  the  second  cataract.5  Ahmose,  son  of 
Ebana,  describes  the  battle,  which  probably  took  place  some- 
where on  this  advance,  between  the  second  and  third  cat- 
aracts. The  king  engaged  in  hand  to  hand  combat  with 
a  Nubian  chief;  "his  majesty  cast  the  first  lance,  which 
remained  in  the  body  of  that  fallen  one. ' '  The  enemy  were 
totally  defeated  and  many  prisoners  were  taken.6  Of  these, 
the  other  hero  of  El  Kab,  Ahmose-Pen-Nehkbet,  captured  no 
less  than  five.7  The  water  was  now  so  low  that  the  advance 
was  necessarily  for  the  most  part  by  land;  but  the  king 
pressed  on  to  the  third  cataract.  He  was  the  first  Pharaoh 
to  stand  here  at  the  northern  gateway  of  the  Dongola  Prov- 

'II,  1037.  2 II,  80.    ail,  75.    «II,  80.  6 II,  p.  28,  note  b.   «  II,  80.  84 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  EMPIRE 


257 


ince,  the  great  garden  of  the  Upper  Nile,  through  which 
there  wound  before  him  over  two  hundred  miles  of  unbroken 
river.  AVith  the  long  advance  now  behind  him,  he  erected 
here  five  triumphant  stelae  commemorating  the  new  conquest. 
On  the  Island  of  Tombos  he  erected  a  fortress,  of  which  some 
remains  still  survive,  and  garrisoned  it  with  troops  from  the 
army  of  conquest.2  In  August  of  the  same  year,  five  months 
after  he  had  passed  Tangur  on  the  way  up,  he  erected  a 
tablet  of  victory3  on  Tombos,  on  which  he  boasts  of  ruling 
from  the  frontier  at  Tombos  on  the  south,  to  the  Euphrates 
on  the  north,  a  statement  to  which  his  own  achievements  in 
Asia  did  not  yet  entitle  him.  Returning  slowly  northward 
with  the  Nubian  chief,  whom  he  had  slain,  hanging  head 
downward  at  the  prow  of  his  royal  barge,  he  reached  the 
first  cataract  again  some  seven  months  after  he  had  erected 
the  stela  on  Tombos.4  We  can  only  explain  the  slowness 
of  his  return  by  supposing  that  he  devoted  much  time  to  the 
reorganization  and  thorough  pacification  of  the  country  on 
his  way.  It  was  now  April,  and  as  the  low  water  of  that 
season  was  favourable  to  the  enterprise,  the  king  ordered  the 
canal  at  the  first  cataract  cleared.  The  viceroy,  Thure,  had 
charge  of  the  work,  and  he  has  left  three  records5  of  its  suc- 
cessful accomplishment  inscribed  on  the  rocks  by  the  stream, 
two  on  the  island  of  Sehel  and  one  on  the  neighbouring  shore. 
The  king  then  sailed  through  the  canal  in  triumph  with  the 
body  of  the  Nubian  chief  still  hanging  head  downward  at 
the  bow  of  his  barge,  where  it  remained  till  he  landed  at 
Thebes. 

The  subjugation  of  the  Nubian  province  was  now  thor- 
oughly done,  and  Thutmose  was  able  to  give  his  attention 
to  a  similar  task  at  the  other  extremity  of  his  realm,  in 
Asia.  Evidently  the  conquest  of  Amenhotep  I,  which  had 
enabled  Thutmose  to  claim  the  Euphrates  as  his  northern 
boundary,  had  not  been  sufficient  to  ensure  to  the  Pharaoh 's 
treasury  the  regular  tribute  which  he  was  now  enjoying 
from  Nubia,  but  the  conditions  in  Syria-Palestine  were  very 

i  II,  p.  28,  note  a.       2  n,  72.      .    3  II,  67-73.  *  II,  74-77.  5  Ibid. 

17 


258 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


favourable  for  a  prolonged  lease  of  power  on  the  Pharaoh's 
part. 

The  geographical  conformation  of  the  country  along  the 
eastern  end  of  the  Mediterranean,  which  we  may  call  Syria- 
Palestine,  is  not  such  as  to  permit  the  gradual  amalgama- 
tion of  small  and  petty  states  into  one  great  nation,  as  that 
process  took  place  in  the  valleys  of  the  Nile  and  the 
Euphrates.  From  north  to  south,  roughly  parallel  with  the 
coast,  the  region  is  traversed  by  rugged  mountain  ranges, 
in  two  main  ridges,  known  as  the  Lebanon  and  Anti-Lebanon 
in  the  north.  In  the  south,  the  western  ridge,  with  some 
interruptions,  drops  finally  into  the  bare  and  forbidding 
hills  of  Judah,  which  merge  then  into  the  desert  of  Sinai 
south  of  Palestine.  South  of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  or 
Jezreel,  it  throws  off  the  ridge  of  Carmel,  which  drops,  like 
a  Gothic  buttress,  abruptly  to  the  sea.  The  eastern  ridge 
shifts  somewhat  further  eastward  in  its  southern  course, 
interrupted  here  and  there,  and  spreading  on  the  east  of 
the  Dead  Sea  in  the  mountains  of  Moab,  its  southern  flanks 
are  likewise  lost  in  the  sandy  plateau  of  northern  Arabia. 
Between  the  two  Lebanons,  that  is,  in  the  northern  half  of 
the  depression  between  the  eastern  and  western  ridges,  is  a 
fertile  valley  traversed  by  the  river  Orontes.  This  Orontes 
valley  is  the  only  extensive  region  in  Syria-Palestine  not  cut 
up  by  the  hills  and  mountains,  where  a  strong  kingdom  might 
develop.  The  coast  is  completely  isolated  from  the  interior 
by  the  ridge  of  Lebanon,  on  whose  western  base  a  people 
might  rise  to  wealth  and  power  only  by  the  exploitation  of 
the  resources  of  the  sea ;  while  in  the  south,  Palestine  with 
its  harbourless  coast  and  its  large  tracts  of  unproductive 
soil,  hardly  furnished  the  economic  basis  for  the  development 
of  a  strong  nation.  It  is  moreover  badly  cut  up  by  the  ridge 
of  Carmel  and  the  deep  clove  in  which  lie  the  Jordan  and 
the  Dead  Sea.  Along  almost  its  entire  eastern  frontier, 
Syria-Palestine  merges  into  the  northern  extension  of  the 
Arabian  desert,  save  in  the  extreme  north,  where  the  valley 
of  the  Orontes  and  that  of  the  Euphrates  almost  blend,  just  as 


THE  RISE  OP  THE  EMPIRE 


259 


they  part,  the  one  to  seek  the  Mediterranean,  while  the  other 
turns  away  toward  Babylon  and  the  Persian  Gulf  (Map  7). 

The  country  was  settled  chiefly  by  Semites,  probably  the 
descendants  of  an  early  overflow  of  population  from  the  des- 
erts of  Arabia,  such  as  has  occurred  in  historic  times  over 
and  over  again.  In  the  north  these  were  subsequently 
Aramaeans,  while  in  the  south  they  may  be  designated  as 
Canaanites.  In  general  these  peoples  showed  little  genius 
for  government,  and  were  totally  without  any  motives  for 
consolidation.  Divided  by  the  physical  conformation  of  the 
country,  they  were  organized  into  numerous  city-kingdoms, 
that  is,  petty  principalities,  consisting  of  a  city,  with  the  sur- 
rounding fields  and  outlying  villages,  all  under  the  rule  of 
a  local  dynast,  who  lived  in  the  said  city.  Each  city  had 
not  only  its  own  kinglet,  but  also  its  own  god,  a  local  ba'al 
(Baal)  or  "lord,"  with  whom  was  often  associated  a  ba'lat 
or  "lady,"  a  goddess  like  her  of  Byblos.  These  miniature 
kingdoms  were  embroiled  in  frequent  wars  with  one  another, 
each  dynast  endeavouring  to  unseat  his  neighbour  and  absorb 
the  latter 's  territory  and  revenues.  Exceeding  all  the  others 
in  size  was  the  kingdom  of  Kadesh,  the  surviving  nucleus 
of  Hyksos  power.  It  had  developed  in  the  only  place  where 
the  conditions  permitted  such  an  expansion,  occupying  a 
very  advantageous  position  on  the  Orontes.  It  thus  com- 
manded the  road  northward  through  inner  Syria,  the  route 
of  commerce  from  Egypt  and  the  south,  which,  following 
the  Orontes,  diverged  thence  to  the  Euphrates,  to  cross  to 
Assyria  or  descend  the  Euphrates  to  Babylon.  Being  like- 
wise at  the  northern  end  of  both  Lebanons,  Kadesh  com- 
manded also  the  road  from  the  interior  seaward  through  the 
Eleutheros  valley.1  These  advantages  had  enabled  it  to 
subjugate  the  smaller  kingdoms  and  to  organize  them  into 
a  loose  feudal  state,  in  which  we  should,  in  the  author's 
opinion,  recognize  the  empire  of  the  Hyksos,  as  already 
indicated.2  We  shall  now  discern  it  for  two  generations, 
struggling  desperately  to  maintain  its  independence,  and 

»  See  Map  7  and  the  author's  Battle  of  Kadesh.  2  Pp.  219  ff. 


260 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


only  crushed  at  last  by  twenty  years  of  warfare  under 
Thutmose  III. 

While,  with  this  exception,  these  kingdoms  of  the  interior 
showed  small  aptitude  for  government,  some  of  them  never- 
theless possessed  a  high  degree  of  civilization  in  other  direc- 
tions. In  the  art  of  war  especially  they  had  during  Hyksos 
supremacy  taught  the  Egyptian  much.  They  were  masters 
of  the  art  of  metal-working,  they  wrought  weapons  of  high 
quality,  and  the  manufacture  of  chariots  was  a  considerable 
industry.  Metal  vessels  of  varied  designs  were  also  produced. 
Their  more  strenuous  climate  demanded  woolen  clothing, 
so  that  they  had  mastered  the  art  of  dyeing  and  weaving 
wool,  in  which  they  produced  textile  fabrics  of  the  finest 
quality  and  of  rich  and  sumptuous  design.  These  Semites 
were  already  inveterate  traders,  and  an  animated  commerce 
was  passing  from  town  to  town,  where  the  market  place  was 
a  busy  scene  of  traffic  as  it  is  to-day.  On  the  scanty  foot- 
hold available  on  the  western  declivities  of  the  Lebanon  some 
of  these  Semites,  crossing  from  the  interior,  had  early  gained 
a  footing  on  the  coast,  to  become  the  Phoenicians  of  historic 
times.  They  rapidly  subdued  the  sea,  and  from  being  mere 
fishermen,  they  soon  developed  into  hardy  mariners.  Bear- 
ing the  products  of  their  industries,  their  galleys  were  now 
penetrating  beyond  the  harbours  of  Cyprus,  where  they  ex- 
ploited the  rich  copper  mines,  and  creeping  along  the  coast 
of  Asia  Minor  they  gained  Rhodes  and  the  islands  of  the 
ZEgean.  In  every  favourable  harbour  they  established  their 
colonies,  along  the  southern  litoral  of  Asia  Minor,  throughout 
the  ^Egean,  and  here  and  there  on  the  mainland  of  Greece. 
Their  manufactories  multiplied  in  these  colonies,  and  every- 
where throughout  the  regions  which  they  reached,  their 
wares  were  prominent  in  the  markets.  As  their  wealth 
increased,  every  harbour  along  the  Phoenician  coast  was  the 
seat  of  a  rich  and  flourishing  city,  among  which  Tyre,  Sidon, 
Byblos,  Arvad  and  Simyra  were  the  greatest,  each  being  the 
seat  of  a  powerful  dynasty.  Thus  it  was  that  in  the  Homeric 
poems  the  Phoenician  merchant  and  his  wares  were  pro- 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  EMPIRE  261 

verbial,  for  the  commercial  and  maritime  power  enjoyed  by 
the  Phoenicians  at  the  rise  of  the  Egyptian  Empire  continued 
into  Homeric  times. 

How  far  west  these  Phoenician  mariners  penetrated  it  is 
now  difficult  to  determine,  but  it  is  not  impossible  that  their 
Spanish  and  Carthaginian  colonies  already  existed.  The 
civilization  which  they  found  in  the  northern  Mediterranean 
was  that  of  the  Mycenaean  age,  and  these  Phoenician  avenues 
of  commerce  served  as  a  link  connecting  Egypt  and  the  Myce- 
naean civilization  of  the  north.  The  people  who  appear  with 
Mycenaean  vessels  as  gifts  and  tribute  for  the  Pharaoh  in  this 
age,  are  termed  by  the  Egyptian  monuments  Keftyew,  and 
so  regular  was  the  traffic  of  the  Phoenician  fleets  with  these 
people  that  the  Phoenician  craft  plying  on  these  voyages  were 
known  as  " Keftyew  ships."1  It  is  impossible  to  locate  the 
Keftyew  with  certainty,  but  they  seem  to  have  extended  from 
the  southern  coast  of  Asia  Minor  as  far  west  as  Crete.  AU 
this  northern  region  was  known  to  the  Egyptians  as  the 
"Isles  of  the  Sea,"  for  having  no  acquaintance  with  the 
interior  of  Asia  Minor,  they  supposed  it  to  be  but  island 
coasts,  like  those  of  the  ^Egean.  In  northern  Syria,  on  the 
upper  reaches  of  the  Euphrates,  the  world,  as  conceived 
by  the  Egyptian,  ended  in  marshes  in  which  the  Euphrates 
had  its  rise,  and  these  again  were  encircled  by  the  "Great 
Circle,"2  the  ocean,  which  was  the  end  of  all. 

In  this  Semitic  world  of  Syria-Palestine,  now  dominated 
by  Egypt,  she  was  to  learn  much;  nevertheless  throughout 
this  region  the  influence  of  Egyptian  art  and  industry  was 
supreme.  Much  more  highly  organized  than  the  neighbour- 
ing peoples  of  Asia,  the  mighty  kingdom  on  the  Nile  had 
from  time  immemorial  been  regarded  with  awe  and  respect, 
while  its  more  mature  civilization,  by  its  very  presence  on 
the  threshold  of  hither  Asia,  was  a  powerful  influence  upon 
the  politically  feeble  states  there.  There  was  little  or  no 
native  art  among  these  peoples  of  the  western  Semitic  world, 
but  they  were  skilful  imitators,  ready  to  absorb  and  adapt 

1  II,  492.  2  n,  661. 


262 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


to  their  uses  all  that  might  further  their  industries  and 
their  commerce.  The  products  which  their  fleets  marketed 
throughout  the  eastern  Mediterranean  were  therefore  tinc- 
tured through  and  through  with  Egyptian  elements,  while 
the  native  Egyptian  wares  which  they  carried  to  Europe  and 
the  ^Egean  introduced  there  the  unalloyed  art  of  tho  Nile 
valley.  In  these  Phoenician  galleys  the  civilization  of  the 
Orient  was  being  gradually  disseminated  through  southern 
Europe  and  the  west.  Babylonian  influences,  while  not  so 
noticeable  in  the  art  of  Syria-Palestine,  were  nevertheless 
powerfully  present  there.  Since  the  days  of  the  brief  em- 
pire of  Sargon  of  Agade,  about  the  middle  of  the  third 
thousand  years  B.  C,  Babylon  had  gained  in  the  west  a  com- 
mercial supremacy,  which  had  gradually  introduced  there 
the  cuneiform  system  of  writing.  It  was  readily  adaptable 
to  the  Semitic  dialects  prevalent  in  Syria-Palestine  and 
gained  a  footing  by  a  process  similar  to  that  which,  during 
the  commercial  dominance  of  Phoenicia,  brought  the  Phoeni- 
cian alphabet  to  Greece.  It  was  even  adopted  also  by  the 
Hittites,  who  were  not  Semites,  and  likewise  by  another 
non-Semitic  nation  in  this  region,  the  kingdom  of  Mitanni. 
Thus  Syria-Palestine  became  common  ground,  where  the 
forces  of  civilization  from  the  Nile  and  the  Euphrates 
mingled  at  first  in  peaceful  rivaly,  but  ultimately  to  meet 
upon  the  battlefield.  The  historical  significance  of  this 
region  is  found  in  the  inevitable  struggle  for  its  possession 
between  the  kingdom  of  the  Nile  on  the  one  hand  and  those 
of  the  Tigro-Euphrates  valley  and  hither  Asia  on  the  other. 
It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  struggle  that  Hebrew  national 
history  fell,  and  in  its  relentless  course  the  Hebrew  mon- 
archies perished. 

Other  non-Semitic  peoples  were  also  beginning  to  appear 
on  Egypt's  northern  horizon.  A  group  of  warriors  of 
Iran,  now  appearing  for  the  first  time  in  history,  had  by 
1500  B.  C.  pushed  westward  to  the  upper  Euphrates.  At 
the  rise  of  the  Egyptian  Empire  therefore,  these  Iranians 
were  already  settled  in  the  country  east  of  the  Euphrates, 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  EMPIRE 


263 


within  the  huge  bend  where  the  river  turns  away  from  the 
Mediterranean,  and  there  established  the  kingdom  of  Mi- 
tanni.  It  was  the  earliest  and  westernmost  outpost  of  the 
Aryan  race  as  yet  disclosed  to  us.  The  source  from  which 
they  had  come  must  have  been  the  original  home  of  that 
Aryan  race  behind  the  northeastern  mountains  at  the 
sources  of  the  Oxus  and  Jaxartes  rivers.  The  influence 
and  language  of  Mitanni  extended  westward  to  Tunip 
in  the  Orontes  valley  and  eastward  to  Xineveh.  They 
formed  a  powerful  and  cultivated  state,  which,  planted  thus 
on  the  road  leading  westward  from  Babylon  along  the 
Euphrates,  effectively  cut  off  the  latter  from  her  profitable 
western  trade,  and  doubtless  had  much  to  do  with  the  decline 
in  which  Babylon,  under  her  foreign  Kassite  dynasty,  now 
found  herself.  Assyria  was  as  yet  but  a  new  and  insig- 
nificant city-kingdom,  whose  coming  struggle  with  Babylon 
only  rendered  the  Pharaohs  less  liable  to  interference  from 
the  east,  in  the  realization  of  their  plans  of  conquest  in  Asia. 
Everything  thus  conspired  to  favour  the  permanence  of 
Egyptian  power  there. 

Under  these  conditions  Thutmose  I  prepared  to  quell  the 
perpetual  revolt  in  Syria  and  bring  it  into  such  complete 
subjection  as  he  had  achieved  in  Nubia.  None  of  his  records 
of  the  campaign  has  survived,  but  the  two  Ahmoses  of  El 
Kab  were  still  serving  with  the  army  of  conquest  and  in  their 
biographies  they  refer  briefly  to  this  war  also.  Kadesh 
must  have  been  cowed  for  the  time  by  Amenhotep  I,  for, 
in  so  far  as  we  know,  Thutmose  met  with  no  resistance  from 
her,  which  the  two  Ahmoses  considered  worthy  of  mention. 
Thus,  without  serious  opposition,  the  Pharaoh  reached 
Naharin,  or  the  land  of  the  ' 1 rivers,' '  as  the  name  signifies, 
which  was  the  designation  of  the  country  from  the  Orontes 
to  the  Euphrates  and  beyond,  merging  into  Asia  Minor.  Here 
the  revolt  was  naturally  the  most  serious  as  it  was  farthest 
removed  from  the  Pharaoh's  vengeance.  The  battle  resulted 
in  a  great  slaughter  of  the  Asiatics,  followed  by  the  capture 
of  large  numbers  of  prisoners.    ' '  Meanwhile, ' '  says  Ahmose, 


264 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


son  of  Ebana,  "I  was  at  the  head  of  our  troops  and  his 
majesty  beheld  my  bravery.  I  brought  off  a  chariot,  its 
horses  and  him  who  was  upon  it  as  a  living  prisoner,  and  I 
took  them  to  his  majesty.  One  presented  me  with  gold  in 
double  measure."1  His  namesake  of  El  Kab,  who  was 
younger  and  more  vigourous,  was  even  more  successful,  for 
he  captured  no  less  than  twenty  one  hands  severed  from  the 
dead,  besides  a  horse  and  a  chariot.2  These  two  men  are 
typical  examples  of  the  followers  of  the  Pharaoh  at  this 
time.  And  it  is  evident  that  the  king  understood  how  to 
make  their  own  prosperity  dependent  upon  the  success  of 
his  arms.  Unfortunately  for  our  knowledge  of  Thutmose 
I's  further  campaigns,  if  there  were  any,  the  first  of  these 
biographies  and  of  course  also  the  warlike  career  which  it 
narrates,  closes  with  this  campaign,  though  the  younger  man 
campaigned  with  Thutmose  II  and  lived  on  in  favour  and 
prosperity  till  the  reign  of  Thutmose  III. 

Somewhere  along  the  Euphrates  at  its  nearest  approach 
to  the  Mediterranean,  Thutmose  now  erected  a  stone  boun- 
dary-tablet, marking  the  northern  and  at  this  point  the 
eastern  limit  of  his  Syrian  possessions.3  He  had  made  good 
the  boast  so  proudly  recorded,  possibly  only  a  year  before, 
on  the  tablet  marking  the  other  extreme  frontier  of  his 
empire  at  the  third  cataract  of  the  Nile.  Henceforth  he  was 
even  less  measured  in  his  claims ;  for  he  later  boasted  to  the 
priests  of  Abydos,  "I  made  the  boundary  of  Egypt  as  far 
as  the  circuit  of  the  sun,"*  which,  in  view  of  the  limited  and 
vague  knowledge  of  the  world  possessed  by  the  Egyptians 
of  that  day,  was  almost  true. 

Two  Pharaohs  had  now  seen  the  Euphrates,  the  Syrian 
dynasts  were  fully  impressed  with  the  power  of  Egypt,  and 
their  tribute,  together  with  that  of  the  Beduin  and  other 
inhabitants  of  Palestine,  began  to  flow  regularly  into  the 
Egyptian  treasury.5  Thus  Thutmose  I  was  able  to  begin 
the  restoration  of  the  temples  so  neglected  since  the  time  of 
the  Hyksos.    The  modest  old  temple  of  the  Middle  Kingdom 

lII,  81.  ail,  85.  'IT,  478.  98.  ^II,  101. 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  EMPIRE 


265 


monarchs  at  Thebes  was  no  longer  in  keeping  with  the 
Pharaoh's  increasing  wealth  and  pomp.  His  chief  archi- 
tect, Ineni,  was  therefore  commissioned  to  erect  two  massive 
pylons,  or  towered  gateways,  in  front  of  the  old  Amon- 
temple,  and  between  these  a  covered  hall,  with  the  roof  sup- 
ported upon  large  cedar  columns,  brought  of  course,  like 
the  splendid  silver-gold-tipped  flag  staves  of  cedar  at  the 
temple  front,  from  the  new  possessions  in  the  Lebanon.  The 
huge  door  was  likewise  of  Asiatic  bronze,  with  the  image  of 
the  god  upon  it,  inlaid  with  gold.1  He  likewise  restored  the 
revered  temple  of  Osiris  at  Abydos,  equipping  it  with  rich 
ceremonial  implements  and  furniture  of  silver  and  gold,  with 
magnificent  images  of  the  gods,  such  as  it  had  doubtless  lost 
in  Hyksos  days.2  Admonished  by  his  advancing  years  he 
also  endowed  it  with  an  income  for  the  offering  of  mortuary 
oblations  to  himself,  giving  the  priests  instructions  regard- 
ing the  preservation  of  his  name  and  memory.3 


>II,  103-4. 


2  11,  92-96. 


a  II,  97. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE    FEUD    OF    THE    THUTMOSIDS    AND    THE  EEIGN 
OF  QUEEN  HATSHEPSUT. 

As  Thutmose  I  approached  the  thirtieth  anniversary  of 
his  accession  to  the  heirship  of  the  throne,  which  was  also 
the  thirtieth  anniversary  of  his  coronation,  he  dispatched 
his  faithful  architect,  Ineni,  to  the  granite  quarries  of  the 
first  cataract  to  procure  two  obelisks  with  which  to  celebrate 
the  coming  Hebsed-festival,  or  thirty  years'  jubilee.  In  a 
barge  over  two  hundred  feet  long  and  one  third  as  wide 
Ineni  floated  the  great  shafts  down  the  river  to  Thebes,  and 
erected  them  before  the  pylons  of  the  Karnak  temple,  which 
he  had  likewise  constructed  for  the  king.1  He  inscribed  one 
of  them,  which  stands  to  this  day  before  the  temple  door, 
with  the  king's  names  and  titles,2  but  before  he  had  begun 
the  inscription  upon  the  other  unexpected  changes  inter- 
fered, so  that  it  never  bore  the  name  of  Thutmose  I.  He 
was  now  an  old  man3  and  the  claim  to  the  throne  which  he 
had  thus  far  successfully  maintained,  was  probably  weak- 
ened by  the  death  of  his  queen,  Ahmose,  through  whom  alone 
he  had  any  valid  title  to  the  crown.  She  was  the  descendant 
and  representative  of  the  old  Theban  princes  who  had  fought 
and  expelled  the  Hyksos,  and  there  was  a  strong  party  who 
regarded  the  blood  of  this  line  as  alone  entitled  to  royal 
honours.  She  had  borne  Thutmose  I  four  children,  two  sons 
and  two  daughters;  but  both  sons  and  one  of  the  daughters 
had  died  in  youth  or  childhood.  The  surviving  daughter, 
Makere-Hatshepsut,  was  thus  the  only  child  of  the  old  line, 
and  so  strong  was  the  party  of  legitimacy,  that  they  had 
forced  the  king,  years  before,  at  about  the  middle  of  his 


"  II,  105. 


2  11,  86-8. 

266 


3  11,  64,  1.  11. 


FEUD  OF  THE  THUTMOSIDS :   HATSHEPSUT  267 


reign,  to  proclaim  her  his  successor,  in  spite  of  the  disin- 
clination general  throughout  Egyptian  history  to  submit  to 
the  rule  of  a  queen.  Among  other  children,  Thutmose  I  had 
also  two  sons  by  other  queens:  one,  who  afterward  became 
Thutmose  II,  was  the  son  of  a  princess  Mutnofret;  while 
the  other,  later  Thutmose  III,  had  been  born  to  the  king 
by  an  obscure  concubine  named  Isis.  The  close  of  Thutmose 
Ps  reign  is  involved  in  deep  obscurity,  and  the  following 
reconstruction  is  not  without  its  difficulties.2  The  traces  left 
by  family  dissensions  on  temple  walls  are  not  likely  to  be 
sufficiently  decisive  to  enable  us  to  follow  the  complicated 
struggle  with  certainty  three  thousand  five  hundred  years 
later.  In  the  period  of  confusion  at  the  close  of  Thutmose 
Ps  reign  probably  fall  the  beginning  of  Thutmose  Ill's  reign 
and  all  of  the  reign  of  Thutmose  II.  When  the  light  finally 
breaks  Thutmose  III  is  on  the  throne  for  a  long  reign,  the 
beginning  of  which  had  been  interrupted  for  a  short  time 
by  the  ephemeral  rule  of  Thutmose  II.  Thus,  although 
Thutmose  Ill's  reign  really  began  before  that  of  Thutmose 
II,  seven  eighths  of  it  falls  after  Thutmose  II 's  death,  and 
the  numbering  of  the  two  kings  is  most  convenient  as  it  is, 
Involved  in  the  obscure  struggle,  with  touches  of  romance 
and  dramatic  incidents  interspersed,  are  the  fortunes  of  the 
beautiful  and  gifted  princess  of  the  old  line,  Hatshepsut. 
the  daughter  of  Thutmose  I.  Possibly  after  the  death  of 
her  brothers  she  had  been  married  to  her  half  brother,  the 
concubine's  son,  whom  we  must  call  Thutmose  III.  As  he 
was  a  young  prince  of  no  prospects,  having,  through  neither 
his  father  nor  his  mother,  any  claim  to  the  succession,  he 
had  been  placed  in  the  Karnak  temple  as  a  priest  with  the 
rank  of  prophet.  Ere  long  he  had  won  the  priesthood  to 
his  support,  for,  on  the  death  of  the  old  queen,  Ahmose, 
Thutmose  III  had  the  same  right  to  the  throne  which  his 
father  had  once  asserted,  that  is,  by  inheritance  through  his 
wife.  To  this  legal  right  the  priesthood  of  Amon,  who  sup- 
ported him,  agreed  to  add  that  of  divine  sanction.  Whether 

i  II,  307.  2  II,  128-130. 


268 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


by  previous  peaceful  understanding  with  Thutmose  I,  or  as 
a  hostile  revolution  totally  unexpected  on  his  part,  the  suc- 
cession of  Thutmose  III  was  suddenly  effected  by  a  highly 
dramatic  coup  d'etat  in  the  temple  of  Amon.  On  a  feast 
day,  as  the  image  of  the  god  was  borne,  amid  the  acclama- 
tions of  the  multitude,  from  the  holy  place  into  the  court  of 
the  temple,  the  priest,  Thutmose  III,  was  stationed  with  his 
colleagues  in  the  northern  colonnade  in  Thutmose  I's  hall  of 
the  temple.  The  priests  bore  the  god  around  both  sides  of 
the  colonnade,  as  if  he  were  looking  for  some  one,  and  he 
finally  stopped  before  the  young  prince,  who  prostrated  him- 
self upon  the  pavement.  But  the  god  raised  him  up,  and 
as  an  indication  of  his  will,  had  him  placed  immediately 
in  the  ' '  Station  of  the  King, ' '  which  was  the  ceremonial  spot 
where  only  the  king  might  stand  in  the  celebration  of  the 
temple  ritual.  Thutmose  I,  who  had  but  a  moment  before 
been  burning  incense  to  the  god,  and  presenting  him  with  a 
great  oblation,  was  thus  superseded  by  the  will  of  the  same 
god,  clearly  indicated  in  public.1  Thutmose  Ill's  five-fold 
name  and  titulary  were  immediately  published,  and  on  the 
third  of  May,  in  the  year  1501,  B.  C,  he  suddenly  stepped 
from  the  duties  of  an  obscure  prophet  of  Amon  into  the 
palace  of  the  Pharaohs.  Years  afterward,  on  the  occasion 
of  inaugurating  some  of  his  new  halls  in  the  Karnak  temple 
of  Amon,  he  repeated  this  incident  to  his  assembled  court, 
and  added  that  instead  of  going  to  Heliopolis  to  receive  there 
the  acknowledgment  of  the  sun-god  as  king  of  Egypt,  he 
was  taken  up  into  the  heavens  where  he  saw  the  sun-god  in 
all  his  most  glorious  splendour,  and  was  duly  crowned  and 
given  his  royal  names  by  the  god  himself.  This  account  of 
unparalleled  honour  from  the  gods  he  then  had  engraved 
upon  a  wall  of  the  temple,  that  all  might  know  of  it  for 
all  time.2 

Thutmose  I  was  evidently  not  regarded  as  a  source  of 
serious  danger,  for  he  was  permitted  to  live  on.  Thutmose 
III  early  shook  off  the  party  of  legitimacy.    When  he  had 

i  II,  131-136,  138-148.  2  ibid. 


FEUD  OF  THE  THUTMOSIDS:   HATSHEPSUT  269 


been  ruling  for  thirteen  months  he  restored  the  ancient  brick 
temple  of  his  ancestor,  Sesostris  III,  at  Semneh,  by  the 
second  cataract,  putting  in  its  place  a  temple  of  fine  Xubian 
sandstone,  in  which  he  carefully  reerected  the  old  boundary 
stela  of  the  Middle  Kingdom1  and  reenacted  the  decree  of 
Sesostris  endowing  the  offerings  in  the  temple  with  a  perma- 
nent income.  Here  he  makes  no  reference  to  any  coregency 
of  Hatshepsut,  his  queen,  in  the  royal  titulary  preceding 
the  dedication.  Indeed  he  allowed  her  no  more  honourable 
title  than  "great  or  chief  royal  wife."  But  the  party  of 
legitimacy  was  not  to  be  so  easily  put  off.  The  nomination 
of  Hatshepsut  to  the  succession  some  fifteen  years  before, 
and,  what  was  still  more  important,  her  descent  from  the 
old  Theban  family  of  the  Sekenenres  and  the  Ahmoses,  were 
things  taken  seriously  by  the  nobles  of  this  party.  As  a 
result  of  their  efforts  Thutmose  III  was  forced  to  acknowl- 
edge the  coregency  of  his  queen  and  actually  to  give  her  a 
share  in  the  government.  Before  long  her  partisans  had 
become  so  strong  that  the  king  was  seriously  hampered, 
and  eventually  even  thrust  into  the  background.  Hatshepsut 
thus  became  king,  an  enormity  with  which  the  state  fiction 
of  the  Pharaoh's  origin  could  not  be  harmonized.  She  was 
called  "the  female  Horus!"  The  word  "majesty"  was  put 
into  a  feminine  form  (as  in  Egyptian  it  agrees  with  the  sex 
of  the  ruler)  and  the  conventions  of  the  court  were  all  warped 
and  distorted  to  suit  the  rule  of  a  woman. 

Hatshepsut  immediately  undertook  independent  works  and 
royal  monuments,  especially  a  magnificent  temple  for  her 
own  mortuary  service,  which  she  erected  in  a  bay  of  the 
cliffs  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  at  Thebes.  It  is  the  temple 
now  known  as  that  of  Der  el-Bahri;  we  shall  have  occasion 
to  refer  to  it  more  fully  as  we  proceed.  Whether  the  priestly 
party  of  Thutmose  III  and  the  party  of  legitimacy  so  weak- 
ened themselves  in  the  struggle  with  each  other  as  to  fall 
easy  victims  of  a  third  party,  or  whether  some  other  varying 
wind  of  fortune  favoured  the  party  of  Thutmose  II,  we  can- 

ill,  167-176. 


270 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


not  now  discern.  In  any  case,  when  Thutmose  III  and  his 
aggressive  queen  had  ruled  about  five  years,  Thutmose  II, 
allying  himself  with  the  old  dethroned  king,  Thutmose  I, 
succeeded  in  thrusting  aside  Thutmose  III  and  Hatshepsut 
and  seizing  the  crown.  Then  Thutmose  I  and  II,  father  and 
son,  began  a  bitter  persecution  of  the  memory  of  Hatshepsut, 
cutting  out  her  name  on  the  monuments  and  placing  both 
their  own  over  it  wherever  they  could  find  it. 

News  of  the  enmities  within  the  royal  house  had  probably 
now  reached  Nubia,  and  on  the  very  day  of  Thutmose  II  's 
accession,  the  report  of  a  serious  outbreak  there  was  handed 
to  him.  It  was  of  course  impossible  to  leave  the  court  and 
the  capital  to  the  intrigues  of  his  enemies  at  the  moment 
when  he  had  barely  grasped  the  sceptre.  He  was  therefore 
obliged  to  dispatch  an  army  under  the  command  of  a  subor- 
dinate, who,  however,  immediately  advanced  to  the  third  cat- 
aract, where  the  cattle  of  the  Egyptians  settled  in  the  country 
had  been  in  grave  danger.  According  to  instructions  the 
Egyptian  commander  not  merely  defeated  the  enemy,  but 
slew  all  their  males  whom  he  could  find.  They  captured  a 
child  of  the  rebellious  Nubian  chief  and  some  other  natives, 
who  were  carried  to  Thebes  as  hostages  and  paraded  in  the 
presence  of  the  enthroned  Pharaoh.1  After  this  chasten- 
ing Nubia  again  relapsed  into  quiet;  but  in  the  north  the 
new  Pharaoh  was  obliged  to  march  against  the  Asiatic 
revolters  as  far  as  Niy,  on  the  Euphrates.2  On  the  way  out, 
or  possibly  on  the  return,  he  was  obliged  to  conduct  a  puni- 
tive expedition  in  southern  Palestine  against  the  marauding 
Beduin.  He  was  accompanied  by  Ahmose-Pen-Nekhbet  of 
El  Kab,  who  captured  so  many  prisoners  that  he  did  not 
count  them.3  This  was  the  last  campaign  of  the  old  warrior, 
who,  like  his  relative  and  townsman,  Ahmose,  son  of  Ebana, 
then  retired  to  an  honoured  old  age  at  El  Kab.  The  imposing 
temple  of  Hatshepsut,  now  standing  gaunt  and  unfinished, 
abandoned  by  the  workmen,  was  used  by  Thutmose  II  on 
his  return  from  the  north  for  recording  a  memorial  of  his 

ill,  119-122.  2  ii?  125.  3Ut  123-4. 


^EUD  OF  THE  THUTMOSIDS:   HATSHEPSUT  271 


Asiatic  campaign.  On  one  of  the  vacant  wails  lie  depicted 
his  reception  of  tribute  from  the  vanquished,  the  words 
1 1 horses"  and  "elephants"  being  still  legible  in  the  accom- 
panying inscription.1  At  this  juncture  it  is  probable  that 
the  death  of  the  aged  Thutmose  I  so  weakened  the  position 
of  the  feeble  and  diseased2  Thutmose  II  that  he  made  com- 
mon cause  with  Thutmose  III,  then  apparently  living  in 
retirement,  but  of  course  secretly  seeking  to  reinstate  him- 
self. In  any  case  we  find  them  together  for  a  brief  core- 
gency,3  which  was  terminated  by  the  death  of  Thutmose  II, 
after  a  reign  of  not  more  than  three  years  at  most. 

Thutmose  III  thus  held  the  throne  again,  but  he  was  not 
able  to  maintain  himself  alone  against  the  partisans  of 
Hatshepsut,  and  was  forced  to  a  compromise,  by  which  the 
queen  was  recognized  as  coregent.  Matters  did  not  stop 
here;  her  party  was  so  powerful,  that,  although  they  were 
unable  to  dispose  of  Thutmose  III  entirely,  he  was  again 
relegated  to  the  background,  while  the  queen  played  the 
leading  role  in  the  state.  Both  she  and  Thutmose  III  num- 
bered the  years  of  their  joint  reign  from  the  first  accession 
of  Thutmose  III,  as  if  it  had  never  been  interrupted  by  the 
short  reign  of  Thutmose  II.  The  queen  now  entered  upon 
an  aggressive  career  as  the  first  great  woman  in  history  of 
whom  we  are  informed.  Her  father's  architect,  Ineni,  thus 
defines  the  position  of  the  two:  after  a  brief  reference  to 
Thutmose  III  as  "the  ruler  upon  the  throne  of  him  who 
begat  him,"  he  says:  "His  sister,  the  Divine  Consort, 
Hatshepsut,  adjusted  the  affairs  of  the  Two  Lands  by  reason 
of  her  designs ;  Egypt  was  made  to  labour  with  bowed  head 
for  her,  the  excellent  seed  of  the  god,  who  came  forth  from 
him.  The  bow-cable  of  the  South,  the  mooring-stake  of  the 
southerners,  the  excellent  stern-cable  of  the  Northland  is 
she;  the  mistress  of  command,  whose  plans  are  excellent, 
who  satisfies  the  Two  Regions  when  she  speaks."  Thus,  in 
perhaps  the  first  occurrence  of  the  ship  of  state,  Ineni  likens 

»II,125.  2  Masp,  Mom.  roy.,  547.  8  11,  593-5. 


272 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


her,  in  vivid  oriental  imagery,  to  the  mooring  cables  of  a 
Nile  boat.1 

This  characterization  is  confirmed  by  the  deeds  of  the 
queen.  Her  partisans  had  now  installed  themselves  in 
the  most  powerful  offices.  Closest  to  the  queen's  person 
stood  one  Senmut  (Fig.  Ill),  who  deeply  ingratiated  him- 
self in  her  favour.  He  had  been  the  tutor  of  Thutmose  III 
as  a  child,2  and  he  was  now  entrusted  with  the  education  of 
the  queen's  little  daughter  Nefrure  (Fig.  Ill),  who  had 
passed  her  infancy  in  charge  of  the  ancient  Ahmose-Pen- 
Nekhbet  of  El  Kab,  now  no  longer  capable  of  any  more 
serious  commission.3  Senmut  was  then  placed  in  control 
of  the  young  girl's  fortune  as  her  steward.4  He  had  a 
brother  named  Senmen,5  who  likewise  supported  Hatshep- 
sut's  cause.  The  most  powerful  of  her  coterie  was  Hapu- 
seneb,6  who  was  both  vizier  and  High  Priest  of  Amon.  He 
was  also  head  of  the  newly  organized  priesthood  of  the  whole 
land;7  he  thus  united  in  his  person  all  the  power  of  the 
administrative  government  with  that  of  the  strong  priestly 
party,  which  was  now  enlisted  in  Hatshepsut's  favour. 
With  such  new  forces  Hatshepsut's  party  was  now  oper- 
ating. The  aged  Ineni  was  succeeded  as  "overseer  of  the 
gold  and  silver  treasury"  by  a  noble  named  Thutiy,8  while 
one  Nehsi9  was  chief  treasurer  and  colleague  of  Hapuseneb. 
The  whole  machinery  of  the  state  was  thus  in  the  hands  of 
these  partisans  of  the  queen.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the 
fortunes,  and  probably  the  lives  of  these  men  were  identified 
with  the  success  and  the  dominance  of  Hatshepsut;  they 
therefore  took  good  care  that  her  position  should  be  main- 
tained. In  every  way  they  were  at  great  pains  to  show  that 
the  queen  had  been  destined  for  the  throne  by  the  gods  from 
the  beginning.  In  her  temple  at  Der  el-Bahri,  where  work 
was  now  actively  resumed,  they  had  sculptured  on  the  walls 
a  long  series  of  reliefs10  showing  the  birth  of  the  queen. 
Here  all  the  details  of  the  old  state  fiction  that  the  sovereign 

i  II,  341.         2  Karnak  statue.       »  II,  344.         *  II,  363  ff.      *  II,  348. 
» II,  388  if.     f  II,  388.  8  n,  369  ff.     »  II,  290,         10  II,  187  ff. 


FEUD  OF  THE  THUTMOSIDS:   HATSHEPSUT  273 


should  be  the  bodily  son  of  the  sun-god  were  elaborately  de- 
picted. Thutmose  I's  queen,  Ahmose,  is  shown  in  converse 
with  Amon  (the  successor  of  the  sun-god  Re  in  Theban  the- 
ology), who  tells  her  as  he  leaves,  "Hatshepsut  shall  be  the 
name  of  this  my  daughter  [to  be  born].  .  .  .  She  shall  exer- 
cise the  excellent  kingship  in  this  whole  land."1  The  reliefs 
thus  show  how  she  was  designed  by  the  divine  will  from  the 
first  to  rule  Egypt,  and  hence  they  proceed  to  picture  her 
birth,  accompanied  by  all  the  prodigies,  which  both  the  con- 
ventions of  the  court  and  the  credulity  of  the  folk  associated 
with  the  advent  of  the  sun-god 's  heir.2  The  artist  who  did 
the  work  followed  the  current  tradition  so  closely  that  the 
new-born  child  appears  as  a  boy,  showing  how  the  intro- 
duction of  a  woman  into  the  situation  was  wrenching  the 
inherited  forms.  To  such  scenes  they  added  others,  show- 
ing her  coronation  by  the  gods,  and  then  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  her  as  queen  by  Thutmose  I  before  the  assembled 
court  on  New  Year's  day.3  The  accompanying  narrative 
of  these  events  they  copied  from  the  old  Twelfth  Dynasty 
records  of  Amenemhet  Ill's  similar  appointment  by  his 
father,  Sesostris  III.  As  a  discreet  reminder  to  any  who 
might  be  inclined  to  oppose  the  queen's  rule,  these  inscrip- 
tions were  so  framed  by  the  queen's  party  that  they  rep- 
resent Thutmose  I  as  saying  to  the  court,  4 'Ye  shall  pro- 
claim her  word,  ye  shall  be  united  at  her  command.  He 
who  shall  do  her  homage  shall  live,  he  who  shall  speak  evil 
in  blasphemy  of  her  majesty  shall  die."4  On  the  pylon, 
which  Thutmose  I  built  as  a  southern  approach  to  the 
Karnak  temple,  he  was  even  depicted  before  the  Theban  gods 
praying  for  a  prosperous  reign  for  his  daughter.5  With 
such  devices  as  these  it  was  sought  to  overcome  the  prejudice 
against  a  queen  upon  the  throne  of  the  Pharaohs. 

Hatshepsut's  first  enterprise  was,  as  we  have  intimated, 
to  continue  the  building  of  her  magnificent  temple  against 
the  western  cliffs  at  Thebes  where  her  father  and  brother 
had  inserted  their  names  over  hers.    The  building  was  in 

UI,  198.      an,  187  ff.       «II,  215.       *II,  237,  11.  15-16.       5  II,  243  ff. 
18 


274 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


design  quite  unlike  the  great  temples  of  the  age.  It  was 
modelled  after  the  little  terraced  temple  of  Mentuhotep  II 
in  a  neighbouring  bay  of  the  cliffs.  In  a  series  of  three 
terraces  it  rose  from  the  plain  to  the  level  of  an  elevated 
court,  flanked  by  the  massive  yellow  cliffs,  into  which  the 
holy  of  holies  was  cut.  In  front  of  the  terraces  were  ranged 
fine  colonnades,  which,  when  seen  from  a  distance,  to  this 
day  exhibit  such  an  exquisite  sense  of  proportion  and  of 
proper  grouping,  as  to  quite  disprove  the  common  assertion 
that  the  Greeks  were  the  first  to  understand  the  art  of  adjust- 
ing external  colonnades,  and  that  the  Egyptian  understood 
only  the  employment  of  the  column  in  interiors  (Fig.  113). 
The  architect  of  the  temple  was  Senmut,  the  queen 's  favour- 
ite,'1 while  Ineni's  successor,  Thutiy,2  wrought  the  bronze 
doors,  chased  with  figures  in  electrum,  and  other  metal  work. 
The  queen  found  especial  pleasure  in  the  design  of  the 
temple.  She  saw  in  it  a  paradise  of  Amon  and  conceived 
its  terraces  as  the  " myrrh- terraces"  of  Punt,  the  original 
home  of  the  gods.  She  refers  in  one  of  her  inscriptions  to 
the  fact  that  Amon  had  desired  her  ' 1  to  establish  for  him 
a  Punt  in  his  house."3  To  carry  out  the  design  fully  it  was 
further  necessary  to  plant  the  terraces  with  the  myrrh  trees 
from  Punt.  Her  ancestors  had  often  sent  expeditions 
thither,  but  none  of  these  parties  had  ever  been  equipped 
to  bring  back  the  trees;  and  indeed  for  a  long  time,  as  far 
back  as  any  one  could  remember,  even  the  myrrh  necessary 
for  the  incense  in  the  temple  service  had  been  passed  from 
hand  to  hand  by  overland  traffic  until  it  reached  Egypt/4 
Foreign  traffic  had  suffered  severely  during  the  long  reign 
of  the  Hyksos.  But  one  day  as  the  queen  stood  before  the 
shrine  of  the  god,  "a  command  was  heard  from  the  great 
throne,  an  oracle  of  the  god  himself,  that  the  ways  to  Punt 
should  be  searched  out,  that  the  highways  to  the  myrrh-ter- 
races should  be  penetrated."5  For,  so  says  the  god,  "It  is 
a  glorious  region  of  God's-Land,  it  is  indeed  my  place  of 
delight;  I  have  made  it  for  myself  in  order  to  divert  my 

>  II,  351,  11.  6-7.       2  n,  375.       3  jIj  295.        *  II,  287.        5  II,  285,  1.  5. 


276 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


heart. ' ' 1   The  queen  adds, '  '  it  was  done  according  to  all  that 

the  majesty  of  this  god  commanded."2 

The  organization  and  dispatch  of  the  expedition  were  nat- 
urally entrusted  by  the  queen  to  the  chief  treasurer,  Nehsi, 
in  whose  coffers  the  wealth  brought  back  by  the  expedition 
were  to  be  stored.3  With  propitiatory  offerings  to  the  divin- 
ities of  the  air  to  ensure  a  fair  wind,  the  five  vessels  of  the 
fleet  set  sail  early  in  the  ninth  year  of  the  queen's  reign.4 
The  route  was  down  the  Nile  and  through  a  canal  leading 
from  the  eastern  Delta  through  the  Wadi  Tumilat,  and  con- 
necting the  Nile  with  the  Red  Sea.  This  canal,  as  the 
reader  will  recall  (see  p.  188),  was  already  in  regular  use 
in  the  Middle  Kingdom.  Besides  plentiful  merchandise  for 
barter,  the  fleet  bore  a  great  stone  statue  of  the  queen,  to 
be  erected  in  Punt.  If  still  surviving  there,  it  is  the  most 
remote  statue  ever  erected  by  an  Egyptian  ruler.  They  ar- 
rived in  Punt  in  safety ;  the  Egyptian  commander  pitched 
his  tent  on  the  shore,  where  he  was  received  with  friendliness 
by  Perehu,  the  chief  of  Punt,  followed  by  his  absurdly  corpu- 
lent wife  and  three  children.5  It  was  so  long  since  any  Egyp- 
tians had  been  seen  in  Punt  that  the  Egyptians  represented 
the  Puntites  as  crying  out,  ' '  Why  have  ye  come  hither  unto 
this  land,  which  the  people  [of  Egypt]  know  not!  Did  ye 
descend  upon  the  roads  of  heaven,  or  did  ye  sail  upon  the 
waters,  upon  the  sea  of  God's-Land?"6  The  Puntite  chief 
having  been  won  with  gifts,  a  stirring  traffic  is  soon  in  prog- 
ress,7 the  ships  are  drawn  up  to  the  beach,  the  gang-planks 
run  out,  and  the  loading  goes  rapidly  forward,  until  the  ves- 
sels are  laden  "very  heavily  with  marvels  of  the  country  of 
Punt;  all  goodly  fragrant  woods  of  God's-Land,  heaps  of 
myrrh-resin,  of  fresh  myrrh-trees,  with  ebony  and  pure 
ivory,  with  green  gold  of  Emu,  with  cinnamon-wood,  with 
incense,  eye-cosmetic,  with  baboons,  monkeys,  dogs,  with 
skins  of  the  southern  panther,  with  natives  and  their  chil- 
dren.   Never  was  the  like  of  this  brought  for  any  king  who 

i  II,  288.  *  II,  285,  1.  6.  3  n,  290.  *  II,  252-3.  292 

5 II,  254.  6  II,  257.  7  TT.  259. 


FEUD  OF  THE  THUTMOSIDS:   HATSHEPSUT  277 


has  been  since  the  beginning. ' ' 1  After  a  fair  voyage,  with- 
out mishap,  and  with  no  transfer  of  cargo  as  far  as  our 
sources  inform  us,  the  fleet  finally  moored  again  at  the  docks 
of  Thebes.2  Probably  the  Thebans  had  never  before  been 
diverted  by  such  a  sight  as  now  greeted  them,  when  the 
motley  array  of  Puntites  and  the  strange  products  of  their 
far-off  country  passed  through  the  streets  to  the  queen's 
palace,  where  the  Egyptian  commander  presented  them  to 
her  majesty.  After  inspecting  the  results  of  her  great  expe- 
dition, the  queen  immediately  presented  a  portion  of  them 
to  Amon,  together  with  the  impost  of  Xubia,  with  which 
Punt  was  always  classed.  She  offered  to  the  god  thirty  one 
living  myrrh-trees,  electrum,  eye-cosmetic,  throw-sticks  of 
the  Puntites,  ebony,  ivory  shells,  a  live  southern  panther, 
which  had  been  especially  caught  for  her  majesty,  many  pan- 
ther skins  and  3,300  small  cattle.3  Huge  piles  of  myrrh  of 
twice  a  man's  stature  were  now  measured  in  grain-measures 
under  the  oversight  of  the  queen's  favourite,  Thutiy,  and 
large  rings  of  commercial  gold  were  weighed  in  tall  balances 
ten  feet  high.4  Then,  after  formally  announcing  to  Amon 
the  success  of  the  expedition  which  his  oracle  had  called 
forth,5  Hatshepsut  summoned  the  court,  giving  to  her  favour- 
ites, Senmut,  and  the  chief  treasurer,  Xehsi,  who  had  dis- 
patched the  expedition,  places  of  honour  at  her  feet,  while 
she  told  the  nobles  the  result  of  her  great  venture.6  She 
reminded  them  of  Amon's  oracle  commanding  her  "to  estab- 
lish for  him  Punt  in  his  house,  to  plant  the  trees  of  God's- 
Land  beside  his  temple  in  his  garden,  according  as  he  com- 
manded." She  proudly  continues,  "It  was  done.  ...  I 
have  made  for  him  a  Punt  in  his  garden,  just  as  he  com- 
manded me.  ...  It  is  large  enough  for  him  to  walk  abroad 
in  it."7  Thus  the  splendid  temple  was  made  a  terraced 
myrrh-garden  for  the  god,  though  the  energetic  queen  was 
obliged  to  send  to  the  end  of  the  known  world  to  do  it  for 
him.    She  had  all  the  incidents  of  the  remarkable  expedition 

1  II,  265.  2  n,  206.  ■  II,  270-272.  *  II,  273-282. 

5  II.  283-8.  «  II,  289-295,        »  II,  295. 


278 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


recorded  in  relief1  on  the  wall  once  appropriated  by  Thut 
mose  II  for  the  record  of  his  Asiatic  campaign,2  where  they 
still  form  one  of  the  great  beauties  of  her  temple.  All  her 
chief  favourites  found  place  among  the  scenes.  Senmut  was 
even  allowed  to  depict  himself  on  one  of  the  walls  praying  to 
Hathor  for  the  queen,  an  unparalleled  honour.3 

This  unique  temple  was  in  its  function  the  culmination  of 
a  new  development  in  the  arrangement  and  architecture  of 
the  royal  tomb  and  its  chapel  or  temple.  Perhaps  because 
they  had  other  uses  for  their  resources,  perhaps  because  they 
recognized  the  futility  of  so  vast  a  tomb,  which  yet  failed 
to  preserve  from  violation  the  body  of  the  builder,  the 
Pharaoh,  as  we  have  seen,  had  gradually  abandoned  the  con- 
struction of  a  pyramid.  With  its  mortuary  chapel  on  the 
east  front,  it  had  survived  probably  into  the  reign  of  Ahmose 
I,  but  it  had  been  gradually  declining  in  size  and  importance, 
while  the  shaft  and  chambers  under  it  and  the  chapel  before 
it  remained  relatively  large.  Amenhotep  I  was  the  last  to 
follow  the  old  traditions ;  he  pierced  a  passage  two  hundred 
feet  long  into  the  western  cliffs  of  Thebes,  terminating  in  a 
mortuary  chamber  for  the  reception  of  the  royal  body.4 
Before  the  cliff,  at  the  entrance  to  the  passage,  he  built  a 
modest  mortuary  chapel,  surmounted  by  a  pyramidal  roof,  to 
which  we  have  already  adverted.5  Probably  for  purposes 
of  safety  Thutmose  I  then  took  the  radical  step  of  separating 
the  tomb  from  the  mortuary  chapel  before  it.  The  latter 
was  still  left  upon  the  plain  at  the  foot  of  the  cliffs,  but  the 
sepulchre  chamber,  with  the  passage  leading  to  it  (Figs. 
109-10)  was  hewn  into  the  rocky  wall  of  a  wild  and  desolate 
valley  (Fig.  108),  lying  behind  the  western  cliffs,  some  two 
miles  in  a  direct  line  from  the  river,  and  accessible  only  by 
a  long  detour  northward,  involving  nearly  twice  that  dis- 
tance. It  is  evident  that  the  exact  spot  where  the  king's 
body  was  entombed  was  intended  to  be  kept  secret,  that  all 
possibility  of  robbing  the  royal  burial  might  be  precluded. 

i  See  p.  27*5;  II,  246-295.  *  Infra,  pp.  270-71.  3  II,  345. 

*IV,  513  and  notes.  5  P.  254. 


FEUD  OF  THE  THUTMOSIDS:   HATSHEPSUT  279 


Thutmose  I's  architect,  Ineni,  says  that  he  superintended 
"the  excavation  of  the  cliff-tomb  of  his  majesty  alone,  no 
one  seeing  and  no  one  hearing."1  The  new  arrangement 
was  such  that  the  sepulchre  was  still  behind  the  chapel  or 
temple,  which  thus  continued  to  be  on  the  east  of  the  tomb 
as  before,  although  the  two  were  now  separated  by  the  inter- 
vening cliffs.  The  valley,  now  known  as  the  1 '  Valley  of  the 
Kings'  Tombs"  rapidly  filled  with  the  vast  excavations  of 
Thutmose  I's  successors.  It  continued  to  be  the  cemetery 
of  the  Eighteenth,  Nineteenth  and  Twentieth  Dynasties,  and 
over  forty  tombs  of  the  Theban  kings  were  excavated  there. 
Forty  one  now  accessible  form  one  of  the  wonders  which 
attract  the  modern  Nile-tourists  to  Thebes,  and  Strabo 
speaks  of  forty  which  were  worthy  to  be  visited  in  his  time. 
Hatshepsut's  terraced  sanctuary  was  therefore  her  mortuary 
temple,  dedicated  also  to  her  father.  As  the  tombs  multi- 
plied in  the  valley  behind,  there  rose  upon  the  plain  before 
it  temple  after  temple  endowed  for  the  mortuary  service  of 
the  departed  gods,  the  emperors  who  had  once  ruled  Egypt. 
They  were  besides  also  sacred  to  Amon  as  the  state  god; 
but  they  bore  euphemistic  names  significant  of  their  mor- 
tuary function.  Thus,  for  example,  the  temple  of  Thutmose 
III  was  called  "Gift  of  Life."2  Hatshepsut's  architect, 
Hapuseneb,  who  was  also  her  vizier,  likewise  excavated  her 
tomb3  in  the  desolate  valley.  In  its  eastern  wall,  imme- 
diately behind  the  terraced  temple,  the  passage  descended 
at  a  sharp  decline  for  many  hundred  feet,  and  terminated 
in  several  chambers,  one  of  which  contained  a  sarcophagus 
both  for  herself  and  her  father,  Thutmose  I.  But  the  family 
feud  was  probably  responsible  for  his  construction  of  his 
own  tomb,  on  a  modest  scale,  as  we  have  seen,  and  he  doubt- 
less never  used  the  sarcophagus  made  for  him  by  his 
daughter.  Both  sarcophagi,  however  had  been  robbed  in 
antiquity  and  contained  no  remains  when  recently  discovered. 

The  aggressive  queen's  attention  to  the  arts  of  peace,  her 
active  devotion  to  the  development  of  the  resources  of  her 


i  II,  106. 


2  TI,  552. 


»II,  389. 


280 


A  HISTORY  OP  EGYPT 


empire,  soon  began  to  bring  in  returns.  Besides  the  vast 
income  of  the  crown  from  internal  sources,  Hatshepsut  was 
also  receiving  tribute  from  her  wide  empire,  extending  from 
the  third  cataract  of  the  Nile  to  the  Euphrates.  As  she  herself 
claimed,  "My  southern  boundary  is  as  far  as  Punt  .  .  .  ; 
my  eastern  boundary  is  as  far  as  the  marshes  of  Asia,  and 
the  Asiatics  are  in  my  grasp;  my  western  boundary  is  as 
far  as  the  mountain  of  Manu  [the  sun-set]  .  .  .  my  fame  is 
among  the  Sand-dwellers  [Beduin]  altogether.  The  myrrh 
of  Punt  has  been  brought  to  me  .  .  .  ,  all  the  luxurious  mar- 
vels of  this  country  were  brought  to  my  palace  in  one  col- 
lection. .  .  .  They  have  brought  to  me  the  choicest  products 
.  .  .  of  cedar,  of  juniper  and  of  meru-wood;  ...  all  the 
goodly  sweet  woods  of  God's-Land.  I  brought  the  tribute 
of  Tehenu  [Libya],  consisting  of  ivory  and  seven  hundred 
tusks  which  were  there,  numerous  panther  skins  of  five 
cubits  along  the  back  and  four  cubits  wide. 9 9 1  Evidently 
no  serious  trouble  in  Asia  had  as  yet  resulted  from  the  fact 
that  there  was  no  longer  a  warrior  upon  the  throne  of  the 
Pharaohs.  This  energetic  woman  therefore  began  to  employ 
her  new  wealth  in  the  restoration  of  the  old  temples,  which, 
although  two  generations  had  elapsed,  had  not  even  yet 
recovered  from  the  neglect  which  they  had  suffered  under 
the  Hyksos.2  She  recorded  her  good  work  upon  a  rock 
temple  of  Pakht  at  Beni  Hasan,  saying,  "I  have  restored 
that  which  was  ruins,  I  have  raised  up  that  which  was  unfin- 
ished since  the  Asiatics  were  in  the  midst  of  Avaris  of  the 
Northland,  and  the  barbarians  in  the  midst  of  them,  over- 
throwing that  which  had  been  made  while  they  ruled  in 
ignorance  of  Re."3 

It  was  now  seven  or  eight  years  since  she  and  Thutmose 
III  had  regained  the  throne  and  fifteen  years  since  they  had 
first  seized  it.  Thutmose  III  had  never  been  appointed  heir 
to  the  succession,  but  his  queen  had  enjoyed  that  honour,  and 
it  was  now  nearing  the  thirtieth  anniversary  of  her  appoint- 
ment, when  she  might  celebrate  her  jubilee.    She  must  there- 

1  II,  321.  II,  296  ff,  >  II,  303, 


Fig.  113— NORTHERN   COLONNADES  ON   THE   MIDDLE  TERRACE  OF  HAT- 
SHEPSUT'S  TERRACED  TEMPLE  OF  DER  EL-BAHRT,  THEBES. 


Fig.  114.— OBELISKS  OF  HATSHEPSUT  AT  KARNAK. 
The  standing  shaft  is  ninety-seven  and  one-half  feet  high. 


FEUD  OF  THE  THUTMOSIDS :   HATSHEPSUT  281 


fore  make  preparation  for  the  erection  of  the  obelisks,  which 
were  the  customary  memorial  of  such  jubilees.  Of  this,  the 
queen  herself  tells  us:  "I  sat  in  the  palace,  I  remembered 
him  who  fashioned  me,  my  heart  led  me  to  make  for  him  two 
obelisks  of  electrum,  whose  points  mingled  with  heaven."1 
Her  inevitable  favourite,  Senmut,  was  therefore  called  in 
and  instructed  to  proceeed  to  the  granite  quarries  at  the  first 
cataract  to  secure  the  two  gigantic  shafts  for  the  obelisks. 
He  levied  the  necessary  forced  labour  and  began  work  early 
in  February  of  the  queen's  fifteenth  year.  By  early  August, 
exactly  seven  months  later,  he  had  freed  the  huge  blocks 
from  the  quarry,2  was  able  to  employ  the  high  water  then 
rapidly  approaching  to  float  them,  and  towed  them  to  Thebes 
before  the  inundation  had  again  fallen.  The  queen  then 
chose  an  extraordinary  location  for  her  obelisks,  namely,  the 
very  colonnaded  hall  of  the  Karnak  temple  erected  by  her 
father,  where  her  husband  Thutmose  III  had  been  named 
king  by  oracle  of  Anion;  although  this  necessitated  the 
removal  of  all  her  father's  cedar  columns  in  the  south  half 
of  the  hall  and  four  of  those  in  the  north  half,  besides,  of 
course,  unroofing  the  hall,  and  demolishing  the  south  wall, 
where  the  obelisks  were  introduced.  They  were  richly  over- 
laid with  electrum,  the  work  on  which  was  done  for  the  queen 
by  Thutiy.3  She  avers  that  she  measured  out  the  precious 
metal  by  the  peck,  like  sacks  of  grain,4  and  she  is  supported 
in  this  extraordinary  statement  by  Thutiy,  who  states  that 
by  royal  command  he  piled  up  in  the  festival  hall  of  the 
palace  no  less  than  nearly  twelve  bushels  of  electrum.5  The 
queen  boasts  of  their  beauty,  "their  summits  being  of  elec- 
trum of  the  best  of  every  country,  which  are  seen  on  both 
sides  of  the  river.  Their  rays  flood  the  Two  Lands  when  the 
sun  rises  between  them  as  he  dawns  in  the  horizon  of 
heaven."6  They  towered  so  high  (Fig.  114)  above  the  dis- 
mantled hall  of  Thutmose  I  that  the  queen  recorded  a  long 


»  II,  317,  11.  6-7. 
•II,  319,  L  3. 


■  n,  3i8.. 

■II,  377,  1.  36-3S. 


•  II,  376,  1.  28. 
•II,  315. 


282 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


oath,  swearing  by  all  the  gods  that  they  were  each  of  one 
block.1  They  were  indeed  the  tallest  shafts  ever  erected 
in  Egypt  up  to  that  time,  being  ninety  seven  and  a  half  feet 
high  and  weighing  nearly  three  hundred  and  fifty  tons  each. 
One  of  them  still  stands,  an  object  of  constant  admiration  to 
the  modern  visitor  at  Thebes  (Fig.  114) .  Hatshepsut  at  the 
same  time  erected  two  more  large  obelisks  at  Karnak,  though 
they  have  now  perished.2  It  is  possible  that  she  also  set  up 
two  more,  at  her  terraced  temple,  making  six  in  all ;  for  she 
has  recorded  there  the  transportation  of  two  great  shafts  on 
the  river,  depicting  the  achievement  in  a  relief,3  which  shows 
the  obelisks  end  to  end  on  a  huge  barge,  towed  by  thirty 
galleys,  with  a  total  of  some  nine  hundred  and  sixty  oarsmen. 
But  this  scene  may  refer  to  the  first  two  obelisks  as  they  were 
brought  down  the  river  by  Senmut. 

Besides  her  obelisks,  erected  in  her  sixteenth  year,  we 
learn  of  another  enterprise  of  Hatshepsut  in  the  same  year 
from  a  relief  in  the  Wadi  Maghara4  in  Sinai,  whither  the  tire- 
less queen  had  sent  a  mining  expedition,  resuming  the  work 
there  which  had  been  interrupted  by  the  Hyksos  invasion. 
This  work  in  Sinai  continued  in  her  name  until  the  twentieth 
year  of  her  reign.5  Some  time  between  this  date  and 
the  close  of  the  year  twenty  one,  when  we  find  Thutmose 
III  ruling  alone,  the  great  queen  must  have  died.  If  we 
have  spent  some  space  on  her  buildings  and  expeditions,  it 
has  been  because  she  was  a  woman,  in  an  age  when  warfare 
was  impossible  for  her  sex,  and  great  achievements  could 
only  be  hers  in  the  arts  and  enterprises  of  peace.  Great 
though  she  was,  her  rule  was  a  distinct  misfortune,  falling, 
as  it  did,  at  a  time  when  Egypt's  power  in  Asia  had  not  yet 
been  seriously  tested,  and  Syria  was  only  too  ready  to  revolt. 

Thutmose  III  was  not  chivalrous  in  his  treatment  of  her 
when  she  was  gone.  He  had  suffered  too  much.  Burning 
to  lead  his  forces  into  Asia,  he  had  been  assigned  to  such 
puerile  functions  as  offering  incense  to  Amon  on  the  return 

1  II,  318.  2  11,304-336.  3  n,  322  ff.  *  II,  337. 

6Petrie,  Cat.  of  Egyptian  Antiquities  found  in  the  Peninsula  of  Sinai,  etc., 
p.  19. 


FEUD  OF  THE  THUTMOSIDS:   HATSHEPSUT  28? 


of  the  queen's  expedition  to  Punt;  or  his  restless  energies 
had  been  allowed  to  expend  themselves  on  building  his  mor- 
tuary temple  of  the  western  plain  of  Thebes.  Considering 
the  age  in  which  he  lived,  we  must  not  too  much  blame  him 
for  his  treatment  of  the  departed  queen.  Around  her  obe- 
lisks in  her  father's  hall  at  Karnak  he  now  had  a  masonry 
sheathing  built,  covering  her  name  and  the  record  of  her 
erection  of  them  on  the  base.  Everywhere  he  had  her  name 
erased  and  in  the  terraced  temple  on  all  the  walls  both  her 
figure  and  her  name  have  been  hacked  out.  Her  partisans 
doubtless  all  fled.  If  not  they  must  have  met  short  shrift. 
In  the  relief-scenes  in  the  same  temple,  where  Senmut  and 
Xehsi  and  Thutiy  had  been  so  proud  to  appear,  their  names 
and  their  figures  were  ruthlessly  chiselled  away.  The  queen 
had  given  Senmut  three  statues  in  the  Theban  temples  and 
on  all  these  his  name  was  erased ;  in  his  tomb  and  on  his  mor- 
tuary stela  his  name  vanished.  A  statue  of  the  vizier  Hapu- 
seneb  was  treated  in  the  same  way.1  Thutiy 's  tomb  was 
likewise  visited  and  his  name  obliterated,  the  tomb  of 
Senmen,  Senmut 's  brother,  did  not  escape,  and  the  name  of  a 
colleague  of  theirs  who  was  buried  in  the  next  tomb  was  so 
effectually  erased  that  we  do  not  know  who  he  was.  Even 
distant  Silsileh  was  visited  at  the  king's  orders  that  the 
tomb  of  the  queen's  1 '  chief  steward"  might  be  dealt  with 
in  the  same  way.2  And  these  mutilated  monuments  stand  to 
this  day,  grim  witnesses  of  the  great  king's  vengeance.  But 
in  Hatshepsut's  splendid  temple  her  fame  still  lives,  and  the 
masonry  around  her  Karnak  obelisk  has  fallen  down,  expos- 
ing the  gigantic  shaft  to  proclaim  to  the  modern  world  the 
greatness  of  Hatshepsut. 


» II,  p.  160,  note  f. 


2 II,  348. 


CHAPTER  XVI 


THE  CONSOLIDATION  OF  THE  EMPIRE:  THUTMOSE  III 

In  the  year  fifteen  Hatshepsut  and  Thutmose  III  still  con- 
trolled their  Asiatic  dependencies  as  far  north  as  the  Leb- 
anon.1 From  that  time  nntil  we  find  him  marching  into 
Asia,  late  in  the  year  twenty  two,  we  are  not  informed  of 
what  took  place  there;  bnt  the  conditions  which  then  con- 
fronted him  and  the  course  of  his  subsequent  campaigns, 
make  it  evident  how  matters  had  gone  with  Egyptian  su- 
premacy during  the  interim.  Not  having  seen  an  Egyptian 
army  for  many  years,  the  Syrian  dynasts  grew  continually 
more  restless,  and  finding  that  their  boldness  called  forth  no 
response  from  the  Pharaoh,  the  king  of  Kadesh,  once  prob- 
ably the  suzerain  of  all  Syria-Palestine,  had  stirred  all  the 
city-kings  of  northern  Palestine  and  Syria  to  accept  his 
leadership  in  a  great  coalition,  in  which  they  at  last  felt  them- 
selves strong  enough  to  begin  open  revolt.  Kadesh  thus 
assumed  its  head  with  a  power  in  which  we  should  evidently 
recognize  the  surviving  prestige  of  her  old  time  more  ex- 
tended and  unchallenged  suzerainty.  "Behold  from  Yeraza 
[in  northern  Judea]  to  the  marshes  of  the  earth  [upper 
Euphrates],  they  had  begun  to  revolt  against  his  majesty."2 
But  southern  Palestine  was  loth  to  take  up  arms  against  the 
Pharaoh.  Sharuhen,  which  had  suffered  a  six  years'  siege  at 
the  hands  of  Ahmose  in  Hyksos  days,  was  too  well  aware  of 
what  to  expect  thoughtlessly  to  assume  the  offensive  against 
Egypt.  Hence  the  whole  region  of  southern  Palestine,  which 
had  witnessed  that  siege,  was  not  differently  minded,  but  a 
small  minority  probably  desired  to  join  the  revolt.  Hence 
civil  war  arose  in  Sharuhen,  as  well  as  in  the  south  generally, 


i  II,  137,  162. 


2  11,  416. 
284 


THUTMOSE  III 


285 


as  the  allies  sought  to  compel  the  southern  dynasts  to  join  the 
uprising  and  send  a  quota  to  the  army  which  they  were  rais- 
ing.1 Not  only  were  ' 'all  the  allied  countries  of  Zahi,"2  or 
western  Syria,  in  open  rebellion  against  the  Pharaoh,  but  it 
is  also  evident  that  the  great  kingdom  of  Mitanni,  on  the  east 
of  the  Euphrates,  had  done  all  in  her  power  to  encourage  the 
rebellion  and  to  support  it  when  once  in  progress ;  for  Thut- 
mose  III  was  ultimately  obliged  to  invade  Mitanni  and 
punish  its  king  before  he  could  maintain  Egyptian  suprem- 
acy in  Naharin.  It  was  natural  that  Mitanni,  an  aggressive 
and  active  power,  competing  with  the  infant  Assyria  on 
more  than  equal  terms,  should  view  with  distrust  the  pres- 
ence of  a  new  and  great  empire  on  its  western  borders.  The 
Mitannian  king  had  finally  learned  what  to  expect  from 
Egypt  and  he  would  naturally  exert  himself  to  the  utmost 
to  rehabilitate  the  once  great  kingdom  of  Kadesh,  as  a  buffer 
between  himself  and  Egypt.  Against  such  formidable  re- 
sources as  these,  then,  Thutmose  III  was  summoned  to  con- 
tend, and  no  Pharaoh  before  his  time  had  ever  undertaken  so 
great  a  task. 

In  what  condition  the  long  unused  Egyptian  army  may 
have  been,  or  how  long  it  took  Thutmose  to  reorganize  and  pre- 
pare it  for  service,  we  have  no  means  of  knowing.  The  armies 
of  the  early  orient,  at  least  those  of  Egypt,  were  not  large, 
and  it  is  not  probable  that  any  Pharaoh  ever  invaded  Asia 
with  more  than  twenty  five  or  thirty  thousand  men,  while  less 
than  twenty  thousand  is  probably  nearer  the  usual  figure.3 
Late  in  his  twenty  second  year  we  find  Thutmose  with  his 
army  ready  to  take  the  field.  He  marched  from  Tharu,  the 
last  Egyptian  city  on  the  northeastern  frontier,  about  the  19th 
of  April,  1479  B.  C.'4  Nine  days  later,  that  is,  on  April  28th, 
he  reached  Gaza,  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles  from  Tharu.' 
In  the  Egyptian  calendar  the  day  was  the  fourth  of  Pakhons, 
his  coronation  day,  just  twenty  two  years  since  the  oracle  of 
Amon  had  proclaimed  him  king  in  his  father's  colonnaded 

ill,  416.         *  II,  616  3  See  the  author's  Battle  of  Kaaesh,  pp.  8-11. 

*  II,  409,  415.  s  ii,  409,  417. 


286 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


temple  hall  at  Karnak.  It  had  been  long  indeed,  but  the 
opportunity  for  which  he  had  ceaselessly  plotted  and  planned 
and  striven  was  at  last  his.  He  was  not  the  man  to  waste 
the  day  in  a  futile  celebration,  but  having  arrived  in  thp 


MILES 

0        1       2       3       4       5       6  7 


Map  4.    The  Cakmel  Ridge. 
Showing  Megiddo,  Taanach,  the  Roads  leading  across  the  Ridge  to  Megiddo, 
and  Positions  of  the  Two  Armies  at  the  Beginning  of  the  Battle. 

evening  of  the  coronation  anniversary,  he  was  away  for  the 
north  again  the  very  next  morning.1  Marching  along  the 
Shephelah  and  through  the  sea-plain,  he  crossed  the  plain  of 
Sharon,  turning  inland  as  he  did  so,  and  camped  on  the 
evening  of  May  10th  at  Yehem,  a  town  of  uncertain  location, 
some  eighty  or  ninety  miles  from  Gaza,  on  the  southern  slopes 

>  II,  418. 


THUTMOSE  III 


287 


of  the  Carmel  range.1  Meantime  the  army  of  the  Asiatic 
allies  under  the  command  of  the  king  of  Kadesh,  had  pushed 
southward  as  far  as  the  territory  of  their  adherents  extended, 
and  had  occupied  the  strong  fortress  of  Megiddo,  in  the  plain 
of  Jezreel,  on  the  north  slope  of  the  Carmel  ridge.  This 
place,  which  here  appears  in  history  for  the  first  time,  was 
not  only  a  powerful  stronghold,  but  occupied  an  important 
strategic  position,  commanding  the  road  from  Egypt  between 
the  two  Lebanons  to  the  Euphrates,  hence  its  prominent  role 
in  oriental  history  from  this  time  on.  Thutmose,  of  course, 
regarded  all  this  country  as  his  own,  and  hence  afterward 
says:  "The  lands  of  the  Fenkhu  [Asiatics]  .  .  .  had  begun 
to  invade  my  boundary. ' 12 

Thus  far  he  had  been  advancing  through  friendly  towns, 
or  at  least  through  regions  where  no  open  disaffection  pre- 
vailed; but  as  he  neared  Carmel  it  was  necessary  to  move 
with  caution.  At  Yehem  he  learned  of  the  enemy's  occupa- 
tion of  Megiddo,  and  he  called  a  council  of  his  officers  to 
ascertain  the  most  favourable  route  for  crossing  the  ridge 
and  reaching  the  plain  of  Esdraelon.3  There  were  three 
roads  practicable  for  an  army  leading  from  Yehem  over  the 
mountain;  one  which  made  a  direct  line  by  way  of  Aruna 
for  the  gates  of  Megiddo;  and  two  involving  a  detour  to 
either  side,  the  first  leading  around  southward  by  way  of 
Taanach,  about  five  miles  southeast  of  Megiddo;  and  the 
other  northward  through  Zefti,  emerging  on  the  northwest 
of  Megiddo.4  Thutmose  characteristically  favoured  the  direct 
route,  but  his  officers  urged  that  the  other  roads  were  more 
open,  while  the  middle  one  was  a  narrow  pass.  "Will  not 
horse  come  behind  horse,''  they  asked,  "and  man  behind  man 
likewise?  Shall  our  advance-guard  be  fighting  while  our 
rear-guard  is  yet  standing  in  Aruna?"5  These  objections 
showed  a  good  military  understanding  of  the  dangers  of  the 
pass ;  but  Thutmose  swore  a  round  oath  that  he  would  move 
against  his  enemies  by  the  most  direct  route,  and  they  might 
follow  or  not  as  they  pleased.6     Accordingly,  making  his 

■  II,  419.  *  II,  439.  >  II,  420. 

*  II,  421.    See  Map  4.  ■  Ibid.  « II,  422. 


288 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


preparations  very  deliberately,  he  moved  to  Aruna  on  the 
thirteenth  of  May.1  To  prevent  surprise  and  also  to  work 
upon  the  courage  of  his  army,  he  personally  took  the  head  of 
the  column,  vowing  that  none  should  precede  him,  but  that 
he  would  go  i '  forth  at  the  head  of  his  army  himself,  showing 
the  way  by  his  own  f ootsteps. ' ' 2  Aruna  lay  well  up  in  the 
mountain  ridge,  accessible  only  by  a  stretch  of  narrow  road ; 
but  he  reached  it  in  safety,  and  passed  the  night  of  the  thir- 
teenth there.  At  this  point  his  army  must  have  been  dis- 
tributed for  a  long  distance  along  the  road  from  Aruna  back 
to  Yehem;  but  on  the  morning  of  the  fourteenth  he  pushed 
quickly  forward  again.  He  had  not  been  long  on  the  march 
when  he  came  in  touch  with  the  enemy.4  Had  they  been  in 
force  he  must  have  suffered,  in  view  of  his  long  and  strag- 
gling line  of  march,  extended  along  the  narrow  mountain 
road.  Fortunately  the  pass  now  widened  and  he  was  able 
to  expand  his  advance  in  a  spreading  valley.  Here,  on  the 
urgent  advice  of  his  officers,  he  held  the  enemy  in  check  until 
his  rear,  which  was  still  in  Aruna,  came  up.5  The  enemy 
had  not  been  in  sufficient  force  to  take  advantage  of  his  pre- 
carious position,  and  he  now  pushed  on  his  advance  again. 
It  was  just  past  midday  when  his  forward  column  emerged 
from  the  pass  upon  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  and  by  one 
o'clock  Thutmose  halted  without  opposition  on  the  south  of 
Megiddo,  ' '  on  the  bank  of  the  brook  Kina. ' ,6  The  Asiatics 
had  thus  lost  an  inestimable  opportunity  to  destroy  him  in 
detail.  They  seem  to  have  been  too  far  toward  the  south- 
east to  draw  in  quickly  and  concentrate  against  his  thin  line 
of  march  as  it  defiled  from  the  mountains.  It  is  impossible 
to  determine  their  exact  position,  but  when  the  skirmishing 
in  the  mountains  took  place  their  southern  wing  was  at 
Taanach,7  doubtless  in  the  expectation  that  Thutmose  would 
cross  the  mountain  by  the  Taanach  road.  From  Taanach 
their  line  could  not  have  extended  as  far  north  as  Megiddo, 
otherwise  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  the  Egyptians 
yjeacefully  to  emerge  from  the  defile  and  debouch  upon  the 

i  II,  424-5.    2  ibid,    a  II,  425.    *  II,  426.    *  n,  427.    6  II,  428.    7  II,  426. 


THUTMOSE  III 


289 


slope  south  of  Megiddo.  Thutmose  went  into  camp  on  the 
plain  by  Megiddo,  sending  out  orders  to  the  entire  army  to 
make  ready  for  the  battle  on  the  morrow.  Preparations  for 
the  conflict  then  went  quietly  on,  and  the  best  of  order  and 
spirit  prevailed  in  the  camp.1  Late  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
same  day  (the  fourteenth),  or  during  the  ensuing  night, 
Thutmose  took  advantage  of  the  enemy 's  position  on  the  east 
and  southeast  of  his  own  force  to  draw  his  line  around  the 
west  side  of  Megiddo  and  boldly  threw  out  his  left  wing  on 
the  northwest  of  the  city.2  He  thus  secured,  in  case  of  neces- 
sity, a  safe  and  easy  line  of  retreat  westward  along  the  Zefti 
road,  while  at  the  same  time  his  extreme  left  might  cut  off 
the  enemy  from  flight  northward. 

Early  the  next  morning,  the  fifteenth  of  May,  Thutmose 
gave  orders  to  form  and  move  out  in  order  of  battle.  In  a 
glittering  chariot  of  electrum  he  took  up  his  position  with 
the  centre ;  his  right  or  southern  wing  rested  on  a  hill  south 
of  the  brook  of  Kina;  while,  as  we  have  seen,  his  left  was 
northwest  of  Megiddo.3  To  protect  their  stronghold  the 
Asiatics  now  drew  in  between  Thutmose 's  line  and  the  city, 
from  which,  of  course,  supplementary  forces  emerged.  He 
immediately  attacked  them,  leading  the  onset  himself  ''at 
the  head  of  his  army."4  "The  king  himself,  he  led  the  way 
of  his  army,  mighty  at  its  head  like  a  flame  of  fire,  the  king 
who  wrought  with  his  sword.  He  went  forth,  none  like  him, 
slaying  the  barbarians,  smiting  Retenu,  bringing  their 
princes  as  living  captives,  their  chariots  wrought  with  gold, 
bound  to  their  horses."5  The  enemy  gave  way  at  the  first 
charge,  "they  fled  headlong  to  Megiddo  in  fear,  abandoning 
their  horses  and  their  chariots  of  gold  and  silver,  and  the 
people  hauled  them  up,  pulling  them  by  their  clothing  into 
this  city;  the  people  of  this  city  having  closed  it  against 
them  and  lowered  clothing  to  pull  them  up  into  this  city. 
Now  if  only  the  army  of  his  majesty  had  not  given  their 
heart  to  plundering  the  things  of  the  enemy  they  would  have 


»  II,  429. 
UI,  430,  I.  3. 

19 


2  Proved  by  his  position  the  next  day. 
*  Ibid.,  1.  4.  5H,  413. 


290 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


captured  Megiddo  at  this  moment,  when  the  wretched  van- 
quished king  of  Kadesh  and  the  wretched  vanquished  king 
of  this  city  [Megiddo]  were  hauled  up  in  haste  to  bring 
them  into  this  city."1  But  the  discipline  of  an  oriental 
army  cannot  to  this  day  withstand  a  rich  display  of  plunder ; 
much  less  could  the  host  of  Egypt  in  the  fifteenth  century 
B.  C.  resist  the  spoil  of  the  combined  armies  of  Syria. 
' '  Then  were  captured  their  horses,  their  chariots  of  gold  and 
silver  were  made  spoil.  .  .  .  Their  champions  lay  stretched 
out  like  fishes  on  the  ground.  The  victorious  army  of  his 
majesty  went  round  counting  the  spoils,  their  portions.  Be- 
hold there  was  captured  the  tent  of  that  wretched  vanquished 
foe  [the  king  of  Kadesh]  in  which  was  his  son.  .  .  .  The 
whole  army  made  jubilee,  giving  praise  to  Amon  for  the 
victory  which  he  had  granted  to  his  son.  .  .  .  They  brought 
in  the  booty  which  they  had  taken,  consisting  of  hands  [sev- 
ered from  the  slain],  living  prisoners,  of  horses,  chariots, 
gold  and  silver."2  It  is  evident  that  in  the  disorganized 
rout  the  camp  of  the  king  of  Kadesh  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Egyptians  and  they  brought  its  rich  and  luxurious  furni- 
ture to  the  Pharaoh. 

But  the  stern  Thutmose  was  not  to  be  placated  by  these 
tokens  of  victory ;  he  saw  only  what  had  been  lost.  i 1  Had  ye 
afterwards  captured  this  city, "  said  he  to  the  troops,  "behold 
I  would  have  given  [a  rich  offering  to]  Re  this  day;  because 
every  chief  of  every  country  that  has  revolted  is  within  it; 
and  because  it  is  the  capture  of  a  thousand  cities,  this  capture 
of  Megiddo." 3  Hereupon  he  gave  orders  for  the  instant 
investment  of  the  city;  "they  measured  this  city,  surround- 
ing it  with  an  enclosure,  walled  about  with  green  timber  of 
all  their  pleasant  trees.  His  majesty  himself  was  upon  the 
fortification  east  of  the  city,  inspecting  what  was  done. ' ' 4 
Thutmose  boasts  after  his  return  to  Egypt,  saying,  "Amon 
gave  to  me  all  the  allied  countries  of  Zahi  shut  up  in  one 
city.  ...  I  snared  them  in  one  city,  I  built  around  them  with 
a  rampart  of  thick  wall."5    They  called  this  wall  of  invest- 

I  II,  430,  1.  5.       2  II,  431.  » II,  43?.       *  IT,  433.        5  II,  616,  440. 


THUTMOSE  III 


291 


ment :  1 '  Thutmose  is  the  Surrounder  of  the  Asiatics, 1 ' 1 
according  to  the  custom  under  the  Empire  of  naming  every 
royal  building  after  the  king.  The  closest  vigilance  was 
enjoined  upon  the  troops  that  none  might  escape,  and  no  one 
from  within  the  city  was  allowed  to  approach  the  siege-lines 
unless  with  the  purpose  of  surrendering.  But,  as  we  shall 
see,  before  Thutmose  had  succeeded  in  closely  investing  the 
place,  the  king  of  Kadesh  had  escaped  northward,  which  was 
exactly  what  Thutmose  had  desired  to  prevent  in  swinging 
his  left  wing  around  the  northwest  angle  of  the  city  on  the 
night  before  the  battle.  As  the  siege  went  on,  the  dynasts 
who  were  fortunate  enough  not  to  be  shut  up  in  the  city 
hastened  to  make  their  peace  with  the  incensed  Pharaoh; 
"the  Asiatics  of  all  countries  came  with  bowed  head,  doing 
obeisance  to  the  fame  of  his  majesty.,,2  Of  the  course  of 
the  siege  meanwhile  and  of  the  assaults  of  the  Egyptians, 
we  are  not  informed.  The  priestly  scribe  of  our  only  source 
remarks,  "Xow  all  that  his  majesty  did  to  this  city,  to  that 
wretched  foe  and  his  wretched  army  was  recorded  on  each 
day  by  its  [the  day's]  name  .  .  .  recorded  upon  a  roll  of 
leather  in  the  temple  of  Amon  to  this  day."3  But  this  pre- 
cious roll,  like  the  book  of  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Judah, 4 
has  perished,  and  our  narrative  suffers  much  from  its  loss. 
The  season  was  far  enough  advanced  so  that  the  Egyptians 
foraged  on  the  grain-fields  of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  while 
its  herds  furnished  them  the  fat  of  the  land.  They  were  the 
first  host,  of  whom  we  have  knowledge,  to  ravage  this  fair 
plain,  destined  to  be  the  battle  ground  of  the  east  and  west 
from  Thutmose  III  to  Napoleon.  But  within  the  walls  all 
was  different;  proper  provision  for  a  siege  had  not  been 
made,  and  famine  finally  wrought  its  customary  havoc  in 
the  beleaguered  town,  which,  after  sustaining  the  siege  for 
some  weeks,  at  length  surrendered.  But  the  king  of  Kadesh 
was  not  among  the  prisoners.  "These  Asiatics  who  were 
in  the  wretched  Megiddo  .  .  .  came  forth  to  the  fame  of 
Thutmose  III,  who  is  given  life,  saying,  i  Give  us  a  chance, 

ill,  433.  2  II,  440.  ■     »II,  433.  *I  Kings  15:  23. 


292 


A  HISTORY  OP  EGYPT 


that  we  may  present  to  thy  majesty  our  impost.'  ffl  Then 
they  came,  bringing  that  which  belonged  to  them,  to  do 
obeisance  to  the  fame  of  his  majesty,  to  crave  the  breath  of 
their  nostrils,  because  of  the  greatness  of  his  power. " 2 
"Then, "  says  Thutmose,  "my  majesty  commanded  to  give 
to  them  the  breath  of  life, '  '3  and  it  is  evident  that  he  treated 
them  with  the  greatest  leniency.  The  frightful  destruction 
of  whole  cities,  of  which  the  Assyrian  kings  boasted  when 
recounting  their  treatment  of  rebels,  is  nowhere  found  among 
the  records  of  the  Pharaohs.  To  compensate  for  the  failure 
to  capture  the  dangerous  king  of  Kadesh  himself,  they 
secured  his  family  as  hostages;  for  Thutmose  says,  "Lo,  my 
majesty  carried  off  the  wives  of  that  vanquished  one,  together 
with  his  children,  and  the  wives  of  the  chiefs  who  were  there, 
together  with  their  children."4 

Rich  as  had  been  the  spoil  on  the  battle-field,  it  was  not  to 
be  compared  with  the  wealth  which  awaited  the  Pharaoh  in 
the  captured  city.  Nine  hundred  and  twenty  four  chariots, 
including  those  of  the  kings  of  Kadesh  and  Megiddo,  two 
thousand  two  hundred  and  thirty  eight  horses,  two  hundred 
suits  of  armour,  again  including  those  of  the  same  two  kings, 
the  gorgeous  tent  of  the  king  of  Kadesh,  some  two  thousand 
large  cattle  and  twenty  two  thousand  five  hundred  small 
cattle,  the  magnificent  household  furniture  of  the  king  of 
Kadesh,  and  among  it  his  royal  sceptre,  a  silver  statue,  per- 
haps of  his  god,  and  an  ebony  statue  of  himself,  wrought  with 
gold  and  lapis-lazuli.5  Immense  quantities  of  gold  and 
silver  were  also  taken  from  the  city,  but  they  are  combined 
with  the  spoil  of  other  cities  in  Thutmose 's  account  of  the 
plunder,  and  we  cannot  determine  how  much  came  out  of 
Megiddo  alone.  The  cattle,  of  course,  came  from  the  country 
round  about ;  otherwise  the  city  would  not  have  suffered  from 
famine.  Before  they  left,  the  army  also  harvested  the  fields 
of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon  around  Megiddo,  and  gathered 
over  one  hundred  and  thirteen  thousand  bushels,  after  the 
army  had  foraged  on  the  fields  during  the  siege.6 

i  II,  441.       2  11,434.        3  11,442.         «  II,  596.       511,435.        6  11,437. 


THUTMOSE  III 


293 


Thutmose  lost  no  time  in  marching  as  far  northward  as 
the  hostile  strongholds  and  the  lateness  of  the  season  would 
permit.  He  reached  the  southern  slopes  of  Lebanon,  where 
the  three  cities  of  Yenoam,  Nuges  and  Herenkeru  formed  a 
kind  of  Tripolis  under  the  government  of  4 'that  foe,"  who 
was  possibly  the  king  of  Kadesh.  They  quickly  succumbed, 
if  their  king  had  not  already  been  among  those  to  send  in 
their  submission,  while  Thutmose  was  still  besieging  Me- 
giddo.  In  order  to  prevent  another  southward  advance  of 
the  still  unconquered  king  of  Kadesh  and  to  hold  command 
of  the  important  road  northward  between  the  Lebanons, 
Thutmose  now  built  a  fortress  at  this  point,  which  he  called 
"Thutmose  -is -the  -Binder-  of- the  -Barbarians,"1  using  the 
same  rare  word  for  "barbarian"  which  Hatshepsut  applies 
to  the  Hyksos.  He  now  began  the  reorganization  of  the  con- 
quered territory,  supplanting  the  old  revolting  dynasts,  of 
course,  with  others  who  might  be  expected  to  show  loyalty 
to  Egypt.2  These  new  rulers  were  allowed  to  govern  much 
as  they  pleased,  if  only  they  regularly  and  promptly  sent  in 
the  yearly  tribute  to  Egypt.  In  order  to  hold  them  to  their 
obligations  Thutmose  carried  off  with  him  to  Egypt  their 
eldest  sons,  whom  he  placed  in  a  special  quarter  or  building 
called  "Castle  in  Thebes."3  Here  they  were  educated  and 
so  treated  as  to  engender  feelings  of  friendliness  toward 
Egypt;  and  whenever  a  king  of  one  of  the  Syrian  cities  died 
"his  majesty  would  cause  his  son  to  stand  in  his  place."4 
Thutmose  now  controlled  all  Palestine  as  far  north  as  the 
southern  end  of  Lebanon,  and  further  inland  also  Damascus. 5 
In  so  far  as  they  had  rebelled,  he  stripped  all  the  towns  of 
their  wealth,  and  returned  to  Egypt  with  some  four  hundred 
and  twenty  six  pounds  of  gold  and  silver  in  commercial 
rings  or  wrought  into  magnificent  vessels  and  other  objects 
of  art,  besides  untold  quantities  of  less  valuable  property 
and  the  spoil  of  Megiddo  already  mentioned.6 

Early  in  October  Thutmose  had  reached  Thebes,  and  we 
can  be  certain  that  it  was  such  a  return  to  the  capital  as  no 

i  II,  548.        2  II,  434.       3  II,  402.        *  II,  467.       5  II,  402.       c  n,  436. 


294 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Pharaoh  before  him  had  ever  enjoyed.  In  less  than  six 
months,  that  is,  within  the  limits  of  the  dry  season  in  Pales- 
tine, he  had  marched  from  Tharu,  gained  a  sweeping  victory 
at  Megiddo,  captured  the  city  after  a  long  and  arduous 
investment,  marched  to  the  Lebanon  and  taken  three  cities 
there,  built  and  garrisoned  a  permanent  fort  near  them, 
begun  reorganizing  the  government  in  northern  Palestine, 
and  completed  the  return  journey  to  Thebes.1  With  what 
difficulties  such  an  achievement  was  beset  we  may  learn  by 
a  perusal  of  Napoleon's  campaign  from  Egypt  through  the 
same  country  against  Akko,  which  is  almost  exactly  as  far 
from  Egypt  as  Megiddo.  We  may  then  understand  why  it 
was  that  Thutmose  immediately  celebrated  three  "Feasts 
of  Victory "  in  his  capital.  They  were  each  five  days  long 
and  coincided  with  the  first,  second  and  fifth  calendar  feasts 
of  Amon.  The  last  was  held  in  Thutmose 's  mortuary  temple 
on  the  western  plain  of  Thebes,  which  was  now  completed, 
and  this  may  have  been  the  first  celebration  held  in  it. 
These  feasts  were  made  permanent,  endowed  with  an  annual 
income  of  plentiful  offerings.2  At  the  feast  of  Opet,  which 
was  Amon's  greatest  annual  feast  and  lasted  eleven  days, 
he  presented  to  the  god  the  three  towns  which  he  had  cap- 
tured in  southern  Lebanon,3  besides  a  rich  array  of  magnifi- 
cent vessels  of  gold,  silver  and  costly  stones  from  the  prodig- 
ious spoil  of  Retenu.'  In  order  to  furnish  income  to  main- 
tain the  temple  on  the  sumptuous  plan  thus  projected,  he 
gave  Amon  not  only  the  said  three  towns,  but  also  extensive 
lands  in  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  supplied  them  with  plen- 
tiful herds  and  with  hosts  of  peasant  serfs  taken  from 
among  his  Asiatic  prisoners.5  Thus  was  established  the 
foundation  of  that  vast  fortune  of  Amon,  which  now  began 
to  grow  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  increased  wealth  of  other 
temples.  Hence  the  state-temple,  the  old  sanctuary  of  his 
father  at  Karnak,  was  no  longer  adequate  for  the  rich  and 
elaborate  state-cult;  for  even  his  father's  great  hall  had  been 
dismantled  by  Hatshepsut  in  order  to  insert  her  obelisks. 


i  II,  409,  549.     ■  II,  550-53.     a  II,  557.     *  II,  558,  543-47.    6  II,  555,  596, 


Fig.  115— VIEW  ACROSS  THE  AMON-OASIS,  OR  5IWA. 
(From  a  photograph  by  Steindorff.  | 


THUTMOSE  III 


295 


There  it  stood,  with  the  obelisks  preventing  the  replacement 
of  over  a  third  of  the  roof,  the  south  half  without  roof  or 
columns,  and  four  cedar  columns  of  Thutmose  I,  with  two 
of  sandstone  which  he  had  himself  inserted,  occupying  the 
north  half. 1  It  was  further  disfigured  by  the  masonry  which 
Thutmose  III  had  built  around  Hatshepsut 's  obelisks.2  But 
it  was  the  hall  where  he  had  been  called  to  be  king  of  Egypt 
by  the  oracle  of  Amon  himself.  Hatshepsut 's  partisan, 
Thutiy,  had  now  been  supplanted  by  another  architect  and 
chief  of  craftsmen  named  Menkheperre-seneb,3  whose  very 
name,  ''Thutmose  III  is  Healthy/'  was  indicative  of  his 
loyalty.  He  was  called  in  and  an  attempt  was  made  to 
restore  the  north  half  of  the  old  hall,  replacing  the  cedar 
columns  by  shafts  of  sandstone.4  But  the  southern  half  was 
left  untouched.  In  this  make-shift  hall  the  great  feasts  cele- 
brating his  victorious  return  from  the  first  campaign  were 
some  of  them  held,  but  for  others  he  naturally  resorted  to  his 
mortuary  temple  of  Amon,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  was  now 
complete  on  the  western  plain.  Judging  from  the  small 
temple  of  Ptah  by  the  great  Karnak  temple  which  Thutmose 
also  rebuilt  at  his  return  from  this  campaign,5  he  probably 
showed  like  generosity  to  the  two  ancient  sanctuaries  at 
Heliopolis  and  Memphis,  of  which  the  former  was  still  in  a 
traditional  sense  the  temple  of  the  state  god,  for  Re  was  now 
identified  with  Amon. 

The  great  task  of  properly  consolidating  the  empire  was 
now  fairly  begun;  but  Egyptian  power  in  Asia  during  the 
long  military  inactivity  of  Hatshepsut 's  reign  had  been  so 
thoroughly  shaken  that  Thutmose  III  was  far  from  ready, 
as  a  result  of  the  first  campaign,  to  march  immediately  upon 
Kadesh,  his  most  dangerous  enemy.  Moreover,  he  desired 
properly  to  organize  and  render  perfectly  secure  the  states 
already  under  the  power  of  Egypt.  In  the  year  twenty  four 
therefore  he  marched  in  a  wide  curve  through  the  conquered 
territory  of  northern  Palestine  and  southern  Syria,  while 
the  dynasts  came  to  pay  their  tribute  and  do  him  homage  in 

» II,  100.  *  II,  306.         s  II,  772.  « II,  600-602.       *  II,  609  ff. 


296 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


" every  place  of  his  majesty's  circuit  where  the  tent  was 
pitched."1  The  news  of  his  great  victory  of  the  year  before 
had  by  this  time  reached  Assyria,  now  just  rising  on  the 
eastern  horizon,  with  her  career  as  yet  all  before  her.  Her 
king  naturally  desired  to  be  on  good  terms  with  the  great 
empire  of  the  west,  and  the  gifts  of  costly  stone,  chiefly  lapis- 
lazuli  from  Babylon,  and  the  horses  which  he  sent  to  Thut 
mose,  so  that  they  reached  him  while  on  this  campaign, 
were,  of  course,  interpreted  by  the  Egyptians  as  tribute.2 
In  all  probability  no  battles  were  fought  on  this  expedition. 

Returning  to  Thebes  as  before,  in  October,  the  king  imme- 
diately planned  for  the  enlargement  of  the  Karnak  temple, 
to  suit  the  needs  of  the  empire  of  which  he  dreamed. 
Moreover  the  slowly  rising  bed  of  the  river  had  now 
raised  the  waters  of  the  inundation  until  they  invaded  the 
temple  area,  and  it  had  become  necessary  to  elevate  the 
temple  pavement.  The  splendid  gate  of  Amenhotep  I  was 
sacrificed  to  this  necessity.  By  the  latter  part  of  February, 
at  the  feast  of  the  new  moon,  which  happened  by  a  lucky 
chance  to  fall  upon  the  day  of  the  tenth  feast  of  Amon,  he 
was  able  personally  to  celebrate  the  foundation-ceremonies 
with  the  greatest  splendour.3  To  render  the  act  especially 
auspicious  the  god  appeared  and  even  himself  participated 
in  the  stretching  of  the  measuring  cord  as  the  foundation- 
plan  was  laid  out.4  As  the  west  end,  the  real  front  of  the 
temple,  was  marred  by  Hatshepsut's  obelisks,  rising  from 
his  father 's  dismantled  hall,  and  he  was  unable  or  unwilling 
to  build  around  his  father's  obelisks,  which  stood  before  the 
western  entrance  of  the  temple,  Thutmose  III  laid  out  his 
imposing  colonnaded  halls  at  the  other,  or  east  end,  of  the 
temple,  where  they  to-day  form  one  of  the  great  architectural 
beauties  of  Thebes.  The  greatest  hall  is  nearly  one  hundred 
and  forty  feet  long,  and  lies  transversely  across  the  axis  of 
the  temple.  This  hall  was  called  ' ' Menkheperre  [Thutmose 
III]  is  Glorious  in  Monuments,"  a  name  which  it  still  bore 
six  hundred  and  fifty  years  later.5    Behind  it  is  the  sanc- 

« II,  447,  1.  25.       2       446>       s  ji}  608.        *  Ibid.        6  II,  p.  237,  note  f. 


THUTMOSE  III 


297 


tuary  or  hoi}7  of  holies,  while  grouped  about  it  are  some  half 
a  hundred  halls  and  chambers.  Among  these,  on  the  south 
side,  was  a  hall  for  the  mortuary  service  of  his  ancestors.  In 
the  chamber  to  which  this  hall  led  he  1 1  commanded  to  record 
the  names  of  his  fathers,  to  increase  their  offerings  and  to 
fashion  statues  of  all  these  their  bodies."1  These  names 
formed  a  great  list  on  the  walls,  which  still  exists  in  the  Bib- 
liotheque  Nationale  at  Paris.  The  statues  of  his  fathers, 
while  many  have  perished,  have  recently  been  discovered  in 
a  court  south  of  the  temple,  where  they  had  been  concealed 
for  safety  in  time  of  war. 

The  third  campaign,  of  the  next  year  (twenty  five)  was 
evidently  spent  like  the  first,  in  organizing  the  southern  half 
of  the  future  Asiatic  empire,  the  northern  half  being  still 
unsubdued.  When  he  returned,  his  building  at  Karnak  was 
sufficiently  far  advanced  to  record  upon  the  walls  of  one  of 
the  chambers  the  plants  and  animals  of  Asia  which  he  had 
found  on  his  march  and  brought  home  with  him  to  beautify 
the  garden  of  the  temple  of  Anion,2  the  sacred  lake  of  which 
he  supplied  with  a  masonry  coping. 

No  records  of  the  fourth  campaign  have  survived,  but  the 
course  of  his  subsequent  operations  was  such  that  it  must 
have  been  confined  like  the  others  to  the  territory  already 
regained.  It  had  now  become  evident  to  Thutmose  that  he 
could  not  march  northward  between  the  Lebanons  and  oper- 
ate against  Kadesh,  while  leaving  his  flank  exposed  to  the 
unsubdued  Phoenician  cities  of  the  coast.  It  was  likewise 
impossible  to  strike  Naharin  and  Mitanni  without  first  de- 
stroying Kadesh,  which  dominated  the  Orontes  valley.  He 
therefore  planned  a  series  of  campaigns,  directed  first  against 
the  northern  coast,  which  he  might  then  use  as  a  base  of  oper- 
ations against  Kadesh;  and  this  being  once  disposed  of,  he 
could  again  push  in  from  the  coast  against  Mitanni  and  the 
whole  Naharin  region.  No  modern  strategist  could  have  con- 
ceived a  series  of  operations  better  suited  to  the  conditions, 
nor  have  gone  about  putting  them  into  execution  with  more 


i  II,  604-5. 


2  II,  450-52. 


298 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


indomitable  energy  than  Thutmose  now  displayed.  He 
therefore  organized  a  fleet  and  placed  in  command  of  it  a 
trusty  officer  named  Nibamon,  who  had  served  with  his 
father.1  In  the  year  twenty  nine,  on  his  fifth  campaign,  he 
moved  for  the  first  time  against  the  northern  coast  cities,  the 
wealthy  commercial  kingdoms  of  Phoenicia.  He  must  have 
employed  the  new  fleet  and  transported  his  army  by  sea,  for 
he  began  operations  in  northern  Phoenicia,  which,  with  all 
southern  Phoenicia  and  Kadesh  still  unconquered,  he  could 
not  have  reached  by  land.  It  is  possible  that  he  gained  his 
first  foothold  by  offering  to  Tyre  special  inducements  to 
submit,  for  it  is  evident  that  some  Pharaoh  granted  this  city 
exceptional  privileges,  making  it  practically  a  free  city.2  It 
is  easily  conceivable  that  the  rich  harbour-town  would  readily 
embrace  the  opportunity  to  save  her  commerce  from  destruc- 
tion and  escape  tribute,  or  at  least  a  portion  of  the  usual 
obligation  in  the  future.  The  name  of  the  first  city  which 
Thutmose  took  is  unfortunately  lost,  but  it  was  on  the  coast 
opposite  Tunip,  and  must  have  been  a  place  of  considerable 
importance,  for  it  brought  him  rich  spoils ;  and  there  was  in 
the  town  a  temple  of  Amon,3  erected  by  one  of  Thutmose 
Ill's  predecessors  (either  Thutmose  I  or  possibly  Amenhotep 
I).  The  cities  of  the  interior,  seeing  that  this  attack  from 
the  coast  must  be  fatal  to  them  if  successful,  had  sent  troops 
to  assist  in  its  defense.  Thus  Tunip4  sent  forces  to 
strengthen  the  garrison  of  this  unknown  city,  the  fall  of 
which  would  involve  the  ultimate  capture  of  Tunip  also. 
Thutmose  now  seized  the  fleet  of  the  city,5  and  was  able  rap- 
idly to  move  his  army  southward  against  the  powerful  city 
of  Arvad.  A  short  siege,  compelling  Thutmose  to  cut  down 
the  groves  about  the  town,  as  at  Megiddo,  sufficed  to  bring 
the  place  to  terms,  and  with  its  surrender6  a  vast  quantity 
of  the  wealth  of  Phoenicia  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Egyp- 
tians. Besides  this,  it  being  now  autumn,  the  gardens  and 
groves  "were  filled  with  their  fruit,  their  wines  were  found 

»II,  779.  Umarna  Letters,  ed.  Winekler,  p.  XXXIII;  n.  2;  70  rev.  12  ff. 
» II,  457-9.  *  II,  459.  6  11,  460.  •  II,  461, 


THUTMOSE  III 


299 


left  in  their  presses  as  water  flows,  their  grain  on  the  [hill- 
side] terraces  ...  ;  it  was  more  plentiful  than  the  sand  of 
the  shore.  The  army  were  overwhelmed  with  their  por- 
tions."1 Under  these  circumstances  it  was  useless  for  Thut- 
mose  to  attempt  to  maintain  discipline,  and  during  the  first 
days  following  the  surrender,  "behold  the  army  of  his 
majesty  was  drunk  and  anointed  with  oil  every  day  as  at 
a  feast  in  Egypt."2  The  dynasts  along  the  coast  now  came 
in  with  their  tribute  and  offered  submission.3  Thutmose  had 
thus  gained  a  secure  footing  on  the  northern  coast,  easily 
accessible  by  water  from  Egypt,  and  forming  an  admirable 
base  for  operations  inland  as  he  had  foreseen.  He  then  re- 
turned to  Egypt,  possibly  not  for  the  first  time,  by  water.4 

All  was  now  in  readiness  for  the  long  planned  advance 
upon  Kadesh.  It  had  taken  five  campaigns  to  gain  the  south 
and  the  coast  ;  the  sixth  was  at  last  directed  against  his  long 
invulnerable  enemy.  In  the  year  thirty  the  close  of  the 
spring  rains  found  Thutmose  disembarking  his  army  from 
the  fleet  at  Simyra,5  by  the  mouth  of  the  Eleutheros,  up  the 
valley  of  which  he  immediately  marched  upon  Kadesh.6  It 
was  a  convenient  and  easy  road,  and  the  shortest  route  from 
the  sea  to  Kadesh  to  be  found  anywhere  along  the  coast; 
indeed  it  was  then,  as  it  is  now,  the  only  practicable  highway 
for  a  military  advance  inland  across  the  mountains  toward  the 
region  of  Kadesh.  The  city  lay  on  the  west  side  of  the  0  routes 
river  at  the  north  end  of  the  high  valley  between  the  two  Leb- 
anons,  the  ridge  of  Anti-Lebanon  dropping  to  the  plain  just 
south  and  east  of  the  town  (Maps  5,  7).  A  small  tributary 
of  the  Orontes  from  the  west  joined  the  larger  stream  just 
below  the  city,  so  that  it  lay  on  a  point  of  land  between  the 
two.  A  canal,  still  traceable  and  doubtless  in  existence  in 
Thutmose 's  day,  was  cut  across  the  tongue  of  land  above  the 
town,  thus  connecting  the  two  streams  and  entirely  sur- 
rounding the  place  by  water.  An  inner  moat  encircling  the 
high  curtain-walls  within  the  banks  of  the  rivers  reenforced 
the  natural  water-defences,  so  that,  in  spite  of  its  location  in 

i  Ibid.        2 II,  462.  3  Ibid.         *  II,  460.        « II,  463.         •  II,  464. 


300 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


a  perfectly  level  plain,  it  was  a  place  of  great  strength,  and 
probably  the  most  formidable  fortress  in  Syria.  In  its  rela- 
tion to  the  surrounding  country  also  the  place  was  skilfully 
chosen  as  one  of  great  strategic  importance;  for,  as  the 
reader  recalls,  it  commanded  the  Orontes  valley,  and.  as 


Map  5.     The  Modern  Tell-Nebi-Mindoh,  Ancient  Kadesh. 
Showing  the  Mound  of  Ruins  between  the  Orontes  on  the  right  and  its 
Tributary  on  the  left  (after  Koldewey). 

Thutmose  had  found,  it  was  impossible  to  advance  northward 
without  reckoning  with  it.  It  will  be  remembered,  further- 
more, that  it  also  dominated  the  only  road  inland  from  the 
coast  for  a  long  distance  both  north  and  south.  This  was 
the  road  up  the  Eleutheros  valley,  along  which  we  have  fol- 
lowed Thutmose.1    The  capture  of  such  a  place  by  siege  was 

1  See  the  author's  Battle  of  Kadesh,  pp.  13-21,  49,  and  infra,  pp.  258-59. 


THUTMOSE  III 


301 


an  achievement  of  no  slight  difficulty,  and  it  is  with  peculiar 
regret  that  one  reads  in  the  narrative  of  the  priestly  scribe 
who  excerpted  Thutmose 's  annals,  merely  these  words  re- 
garding it :  "His  majesty  arrived  at  the  city  of  Kadesh,  over- 
threw it,  cut  down  its  groves,  harvested  its  grain."1  We 
can  only  discern  from  these  laconic  words  that  as  at  Megiddo 
Thutmose  was  obliged  to  fell  the  groves  to  build  his  siege- 
walls,  and  that  the  army  lived  on  the  forage  from  the  sur- 
rounding grain  fields  during  the  investment,  which  must 
therefore  have  continued  from  early  spring  into  harvest 
time.  At  least  one  assault  was  made,  in  which  Amenemhab, 
one  of  Thutmose's  commanders,  whom  we  shall  meet  in  later 
campaigns  also,  captured  two  of  the  patricians  of  the  city. 
He  was  rewarded  in  the  presence  of  the  army  with  two  orders 
or  decorations  for  distinguished  service:  "a  lion  of  the  finest 
gold"  and  "two  flies,"  besides  rich  ornaments.2  The  siege 
had  now  continued  long  enough  to  encourage  the  coast  cities 
in  the  hope  that  Thutmose  had  suffered  a  reverse.  In  spite 
of  the  chastisement  inflicted  upon  Arvad  the  year  before, 
the  opulent  harbour  town  could  not  resist  an  attempt  to  rid 
itself  of  the  annual  obligation  to  Thutmose,  which  cost  it  so 
large  a  portion  of  its  yearly  gains.  As  soon  as  Kadesh  fell 
and  Thutmose  was  able  to  leave  it,  he  quickly  returned  to 
Simyra,  embarked  his  army  on  his  waiting  fleet  and  sailed 
to  Arvad  to  inflict  swift  retribution.3  Sailing  for  Egypt  as 
the  rainy  season  drew  on,  he  took  with  him  the  sons  of  the 
north  .  Syrian  kings  and  dynasts,  to  be  educated  at  Thebes, 4 
as  he  had  already  done  with  the  young  princes  of  the  south 
in  former  years. 

The  revolt  of  Arvad,  while  Thutmose  was  still  besieging 
Kadesh,  showed  him  that  he  must  devote  another  campaign 
to  the  thorough  subjugation  of  the  coast  before  he  could 
safely  push  inland  beyond  the  valley  of  the  Orontes  on  the 
long  planned  advance  into  Naharin.  He  therefore  spent  the 
summer  of  the  year  thirty  one,  the  seventh  campaign,  in 
completely  quenching  any  slumbering  embers  of  revolt  in 

1  II,  465.  2  II,  585.  *         3  II,  465.  « II,  467. 


302 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


the  coast  cities.  In  spite  of  his  display  of  force  at  Simyra, 
Ullaza,  a  harbour-town  near  Simyra,  had  showed  serious  dis- 
affection, owing  to  encouragement  from  the  king  of  Tunip, 
who  sent  his  two  sons  to  conduct  the  revolt.  On  the  27th 
of  April,  Thutmose  appeared  in  the  harbour  of  the  recreant 
city;1  he  made  short  work  of  the  place  and  captured  the 
king  of  Tunip 's  son.2  The  local  dynasts  came  in  as  usual 
with  their  submission  and  Thutmose  collected  about  one 
hundred  and  eighty  five  pounds  of  silver  from  them  and  the 
captured  city,  besides  great  quantities  of  natural  produce.3 
He  then  sailed  from  harbour  to  harbour  along  the  coast,  dis- 
playing his  force  and  thoroughly  organizing  the  administra- 
tion of  the  cities.4  In  particular  he  saw  to  it  that  every 
harbour-town  should  be  liberally  supplied  with  provisions  for 
his  coming  campaign  in  Naharin.  On  his  return  to  Egypt 
he  found  envoys  from  the  extreme  south,  probably  eastern 
Nubia,  bringing  to  the  Pharaoh  their  tribute,5  showing  that 
he  was  maintaining  an  aggressive  policy  in  the  far  south 
while  at  the  same  time  so  active  in  the  north. 

The  organization  and  the  collection  of  resources  necessary 
for  the  great  campaign  now  before  him  evidently  occupied 
Thutmose  all  the  year  following  his  return  from  this  expe- 
dition ;  for  it  was  not  until  the  spring  of  the  year  thirty  three 
that  he  landed  his  forces  in  the  harbour  of  Simyra,6  on  his 
eighth  campaign,  and  marched  inland  for  the  second  time 
along  the  Kadesh  road.  He  turned  northward  and  captured 
the  town  of  Ketne.7  Continuing  the  march  down  the 
Orontes,  he  fought  a  battle  at  the  city  of  Senzar,  which  he 
also  took.  In  this  action  his  general,  Amenemhab,  again 
won  distinction.8  Thutmose  probably  crossed  and  forsook 
the  Orontes  at  this  point;  in  any  case,  he  now  entered 
Naharin  and  marched  rapidly  on.  He  soon  met  resistance 
and  fought  a  slight  action  in  which  Amenemhab  captured 
three  prisoners.9  But  no  serious  force  confronted  him  until 
he  had  arrived  at  "The  Height  of  Wan,  on  the  west  of 

» II,  470.  *Ibid.         3  11,471.  *  II,  472.  «  II,  474-5. 

«  II,  476.  »  II,  598.     "  II,  584.  »  II,  581. 


THUTMOSE  III 


303 


Aleppo/ 1  where  a  considerable  battle  was  fought,  in  the 
course  of  which  Amenemhab  took  thirteen  prisoners,  each 
bearing  a  bronze  spear  inlaid  with  gold.1  This  doubtless 
shows  that  the  royal  troops  of  the  king  of  Aleppo  were  en- 
gaged. Aleppo  itself  must  have  fallen,  for  the  Pharaoh 
could  otherwise  hardly  have  pushed  on  without  delay,  as  he 
evidently  did.  "  Behold  his  majesty  went  north,  capturing 
the  towns  and  laying  waste  the  settlements  of  that  foe  of 
wretched  Naharin, '  '2  who  was,  of  course,  the  king  of  Mitanni. 
Egyptian  troops  were  again  plundering  the  Euphrates  val- 
ley, a  license  which  they  had  not  enjoyed  since  the  days  of 
their  fathers  under  Thutmose  I,  some  fifty  years  before. 

As  he  advanced  northward,  Thutmose  now  turned  slightly 
toward  the  Euphrates,  in  order  to  reach  Carchemish.  In  the 
battle  fought  at  that  city  it  must  have  been  his  long  unscathed 
foe,  the  king  of  Mitanni,  whose  army  Thutmose  scattered  far 
and  wide,  "not  one  looked  behind  him,  but  they  fled  forsooth 
like  a  herd  of  mountain  goats. ' ,3  Amenemhab  seems  to  have 
pushed  the  pursuit  across  the  Euphrates  to  the  east  side,  as 
he  was  obliged  to  cross  it  in  bringing  back  to  the  king  the 
prisoners  whom  he  had  taken.4  This  battle  at  last  enabled 
Thutmose  to  do  what  he  had  been  fighting  ten  years  to  attain, 
for  he  himself  now  crossed  the  Euphrates  into  Mitanni  and 
set  up  his  boundary  tablet  on  the  east  side,  an  achievement 
of  which  none  of  his  fathers  could  boast.5  But  without  win- 
tering in  Naharin,  it  was  impossible  for  Thutmose  to  advance 
further,  and  he  was  too  wise  a  soldier  to  risk  exposing  to  the 
inclement  northern  winter  the  seasoned  veterans  of  so  many 
campaigns,  whom  it  would  have  taken  him  years  to  replace. 
He  therefore  returned  unmolested  to  the  west  shore,  where 
he  found  the  tablet  of  his  father,  Thutmose  I,  and  with  the 
greatest  satisfaction  he  set  up.  another  of  his  own  alongside 
it.6  It  was  now  late  in  the  season,  his  troops  had  already 
harvested  the  fields  of  the  Euphrates  valley,7  and  he  was 
obliged  to  begin  the  return  march.    But  one  serious  enter- 


1  II,  582.  2  ii,  479.  3  ibid.  *  II,  583. 

«  II,  478,  481 ;  65G,  11.  7-8.  6  Jjf  473.  7  n,  480. 


304 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


prise  still  awaited  him  before  he  could  return  to  the  coast. 
The  city  of  Niy,  further  down  the  Euphrates,  was  still  uncon- 
quered  and  all  his  work  in  Naharin  might  be  undone  were 
this  place  left  unscathed.  Having  set  up  his  boundary  tab- 
lets, therefore,  he  marched  down  the  river  and  took  Niy 
without  trouble  so  far  as  we  know.1  The  object  of  the  cam- 
paign having  been  accomplished  and  its  arduous  duties  past, 
Thutmose  organized  a  great  elephant  hunt  in  the  region  of 
Niy,  where  these  animals  have  now  been  extinct  for  ages. 
He  and  his  party  attacked  the  North  Syrian  herd  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  animals.  In  the  course  of  the  hunt  the 
king  came  to  close  quarters  with  one  great  beast  and  was  in 
some  danger  when  his  general,  Amenemhab  rushed  between 
and  cut  off  the  animal's  trunk;  whereupon  the  infuriated 
beast  charged  upon  his  hardy  assailant,  who  escaped  between 
two  rocks  overhanging  a  neighbouring  pool.  For  thus  divert- 
ing the  animal  at  the  critical  moment  the  faithful  Amenem- 
hab was  of  course  liberally  rewarded  by  the  king.2 

Meantime  all  the  local  princes  and  dynasts  of  Naharin 
appeared  at  his  camp  and  brought  in  their  tribute  as  a  token 
of  their  submission.3  Even  far  off  Babylon  was  now  anxious 
to  secure  the  goodwill  of  the  Pharaoh,  and  its  king  sent  him 
gifts  wrought  of  lapis-lazuli.4  But  what  was  still  more  impor- 
tant, the  mighty  people  of  the  Kheta,  whose  domain  stretched 
far  away  into  the  unknown  regions  of  Asia  Minor,  sent  him 
a  rich  gift.  As  he  was  on  the  march  from  Naharin  to  reach 
the  coast  again  their  envoys  met  him,  with  eight  massive  com- 
mercial rings  of  silver,  weighing  nearly  ninety  eight  pounds, 
beside  some  unknown  precious  stone  and  costly  wood.5  Thus 
the  Kheta,  probably  the  Biblical  Hittites,  enter  for  the  first 
time,  as  far  as  we  know,  into  relations  with  the  Egyptian  Pha- 
raohs. On  Thutmose 's  arrival  at  the  coast,  he  laid  upon  the 
chiefs  of  the  Lebanon  the  yearly  obligation  to  keep  the  Phoe- 
nician harbours  supplied  with  the  necessary  provision  for  his 
campaigns.6  From  any  point  in  this  line  of  harbours,  which 
he  could  reach  from  Egypt  by  ship  in  a  few  days,  he  was 

1  IT,  481.      2  11,  588.         3  H?  482.       *  1T,  484.         6  II,  485.       6  II,  483. 


THUTMOSE  III 


305 


then  able  to  strike  inland  without  delay  and  bring  delin- 
quents to  an  immediate  accounting.  His  sea  power  was  such 
that  the  king  of  Cyprus  became  practically  a  vassal  of 
Egypt,  as  later  in  Saitic  times.  Moreover,  his  fleet  made 
him  so  feared  in  the  islands  of  the  north  that  he  was  able  to 
exert  a  loose  control  over  the  eastern  Mediterranean,  west- 
ward an  indefinite  distance  to  the  ^Egean.  Thus  his  gen- 
eral, Thutiy,  includes  "the  isles  in  the  midst  of  the  sea"  as 
within  his  jurisdiction  as  governor  of  the  north  countries; 
although  his  control  will  doubtless  have  consisted  in  little 
more  than  the  reception  of  the  annual  gifts  which  the  island 
dynasts  thought  it  wise  to  send  him. 

His  arrival  at  Thebes  in  October  found  awaiting  him  a 
newly  returned  expedition  which  in  the  midst  of  his  respon- 
sibilities in  Asia  he  had  found  time  to  dispatch  to  Punt.  His 
emissaries  brought  back  the  usual  rich  and  varied  cargo  of 
ivory,  ebony,  panther-skins,  gold  and  over  two  hundred  and 
twenty  three  bushels  of  myrrh,  besides  male  and  female 
slaves  and  many  cattle.1  At  some  time  during  these  wars 
Thutmose  is  also  found  in  possession  of  the  entire  oasis- 
region  on  the  west  of  Egypt  (Fig.  115).  The  oases  thus 
became  Pharaonic  territory  and  were  placed  under  the  gov- 
ernment of  Intef,  Thutmose  Ill's  herald,2  who  was  a  descend- 
ant of  the  old  line  of  lords  of  Thinis-Abydos,  whence  the 
Great  Oasis  was  most  easily  reached  (Map  13).  The  oasis 
region  remained  an  appanage  of  the  lords  of  Thinis  and 
became  famous  for  its  fine  wines. 

The  great  object  for  which  Thutmose  had  so  long  striven 
was  now  achieved;  he  had  followed  his  fathers  to  the  Eu- 
phrates. The  kings  whom  they  had  been  able  to  defeat 
singly  and  in  succession,  he  had  been  obliged  to  meet  united, 
and  against  the  combined  military  resources  of  Syria  and 
northern  Palestine  under  their  old  time  Hyksos  suzerain  of 
Kadesh,  he  had  forced  his  way  through  to  the  north.  In 
ten  long  years  of  scattered  and  often  guerilla  warfare  he 
had  crushed  them  with  blow  on  blow,  until  he  had  at  last 


»  H,  486. 
20 


2  IT,  763- 


306 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


planted  his  boundary  stone  beside  that  of  his  father  on 
the  frontier,  won  two  generations  before.  He  had  even 
surpassed  his  father  and  crossed  the  Euphrates,  an  unpre- 
cedented feat  in  the  annals  of  Egyptian  conquest.  He  might 
pardonably  permit  himself  some  satisfaction  in  the  contem- 
plation of  what  he  had  accomplished.  Nearly  thirty  three 
years  had  elapsed  since  the  day  when  Amon  called  him  to 
the  throne.  Already  on  his  thirtieth  anniversary  his  archi- 
tect, Puemre,  had  erected  the  jubilee  obelisks  at  Thebes;1 
but  on  his  return  from  the  great  campaign  the  date  for  the 
customary  second  jubilee-celebration  was  approaching.  A 
pair  of  enormous  obelisks,  which  had  been  in  preparation 
for  the  event,  were  erected  at  the  Karnak  temple  and  one  of 
them  bore  the  proud  words,  "Thutmose,  who  crossed  the 
great  'Bend  of  Naharin'  [the  Euphrates]  with  might  and 
with  victory  at  the  head  of  his  army."  The  other  obelisk 
of  this  pair  has  perished,  but  this  one  now  stands  in  Con- 
stantinople.2 Indeed  all  of  the  great  king's  obelisks  in 
Egypt  have  either  perished  or  been  removed,  so  that  not  a 
single  obelisk  of  his  still  stands  in  the  land  he  ruled  so 
mightily,  while  the  modern  world  possesses  a  line  of  them 
reaching  from  Constantinople,  through  Rome  and  London  to 
New  York  (Fig.  116).  The  last  two,  which  commemorate 
his  fourth  jubilee-celebration  now  rise  on  opposite  shores  of 
the  Atlantic,  as  they  once  stood  on  either  side  of  the  approach 
to  the  sun-temple  at  Heliopolis.3 

With  such  monuments  as  these  before  them  the  people  of 
Thebes  soon  forgot  that  he  who  erected  them  was  once  a 
humble  priest  in  the  very  temple  where  his  giant  obelisks 
now  rose.  On  its  walls,  moreover,  they  saw  long  annals  of 
his  victories  in  Asia,  endless  records  of  the  plunder  he  had 
taken,  with  splendid  reliefs  picturing  the  rich  portion  which 
fell  to  Amon.  A  list  (Fig.  117)  of  one  hundred  and  nineteen 
towns  which  he  captured  on  his  first  campaigns  was  three 
times  displayed  upon  the  pylons,  while  from  his  recent  suc- 
cesses in  the  north  the  same  walls  bore  a  record  of  no  less 


J 1I,  382-4. 


2  11,  629-31. 


»II,  632-6. 


THUTMOSE  III 


307 


than  two  hundred  and  forty  eight  towns  which  had  submitted 
to  him.1  However  much  they  may  have  impressed  the  Theb- 
ans,  these  records  are  for  us  of  priceless  value.  Unfortu- 
nately they  are  but  excerpts  from  the  state  records,  made 
by  priests  who  wished  to  explain  the  source  of  the  gifts 
received  by  the  temple,  and  to  show  how  Thutmose  was 
repaying  his  debt  to  Amon  for  the  many  victories  which  the 
favouring  god  had  vouchsafed  him.  Hence  they  are  but 
meagre  sources  from  which  to  reconstruct  the  campaigns  of 
the  first  great  strategist  of  whom  we  know  anything  in  his- 
tory. But  the  Thebans  were  not  obliged  to  study  the  monu- 
ments of  Karnak  for  witness  to  the  greatness  of  their  king. 
In  the  garden  of  Amon's  temple,  as  we  have  seen,  grew  the 
strange  plants  of  Syria-Palestine,  while  animals  unknown  to 
the  hunter  of  the  Nile  valley  wandered  among  trees  equally 
unfamiliar.  Envoys  from  the  north  and  south  were  con- 
stantly appearing  at  the  court.  Phoenician  galleys,  such  as 
the  upper  Nile  had  never  seen  before  delighted  the  eyes  of 
the  curious  crowd  at  the  docks  of  Thebes;  and  from  these 
landed  whole  cargoes  of  the  finest  sturTs  of  Phoenicia,  gold 
and  silver  vessels  of  magnificent  workmanship,  from  the 
cunning  hand  of  the  Tyrian  artificer  or  the  workshops  of 
distant  Asia  Minor,  Cyprus,  Crete  and  the  iEgean  islands; 
exquisite  furniture  of  carved  ivory,  delicately  wrought 
ebony,  chariots  mounted  with  gold  and  electrum,  and  bronze 
implements  of  war;  besides  these,  fine  horses  for  the  Phar- 
aoh's stables  and  untold  quantities  of  the  best  that  the  fields, 
gardens,  vineyards,  orchards  and  pastures  of  Asia  produced. 
Under  heavy  guard  emerged  from  these  ships,  too,  the  annual 
tribute  of  gold  and  silver  in  large  commercial  rings,  some 
of  which  weighed  as  much  as  twelve  pounds  each,  while  others 
for  purposes  of  daily  trade  were  of  but  a  few  grains  weight. 
Winding  through  the  streets,  crowded  with  the  wondering 
Theban  multitude,  the  strange  tongued  Asiatics  in  long  pro- 
cession bore  their  tribute  to  the  Pharaoh's  treasury.  They 
were  received  by  the  vizier,  Rekhmire,  and  when  unusually 

«  II,  402-3. 


308 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


rich  tribute  was  presented,  he  conducted  them  into  the 
Pharaoh's  presence,  who,  enthroned  in  splendour,  reviewed 
them  and  praised  the  vizier  and  his  officials  for  their  zeal 
in  his  behalf.  The  Asiatics  then  delivered  their  tribute  at 
the  office  of  the  vizier,  where  all  was  duly  entered  on  his 
books,  even  to  the  last  measure  of  grain.  It  was  such  scenes 
as  this  that  the  vizier  and  treasury  officials  loved  to  perpetu- 
ate in  gorgeous  paintings  on  the  walls  of  their  tombs,  where 
they  are  still  preserved  at  Thebes1  (Fig.  118).  The  amount 
of  wealth  which  thus  came  into  Egypt  must  have  been  enor- 
mous for  those  times,  and  on  one  occasion  the  treasury  was 
able  to  weigh  out  some  eight  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
forty  three  pounds  of  gold-silver  alloy.2  Nubia  also,  under 
the  Egyptian  viceroy,  was  rendering  with  great  regularity 
her  annual  impost  of  gold,  negro  slaves,  cattle,  ebony,  ivory 
and  grain ;  much  of  the  gold  in  the  above  hoard  must  have 
come  from  the  Nubian  mines.  It  was  a  great  day,  too,  for 
the  Theban  crowds  when  the  Nubian  barges  landed  their 
motley  cargo.  Similar  sights  diverted  the  multitudes  of  the 
once  provincial  Thebes  when  every  year,  toward  the  close 
of  September  or  the  opening  days  of  October,  Thutmose's 
war-galleys  moored  in  the  harbour  of  the  town;  but  at  this 
time  not  merely  the  wealth  of  Asia  was  unloaded  from  the 
ships;  the  Asiatics  themselves,  bound  one  to  another  in  long 
lines,  were  led  down  the  gang  planks  to  begin  a  life  of  slave- 
labour  for  the  Pharaoh  (Fig.  119).  They  wore  long  matted 
beards,  an  abomination  to  the  Egyptians ;  their  hair  hung  in 
heavy  black  masses  upon  their  shoulders,  and  they  were 
clad  in  gaily  coloured  woolen  stuffs,  such  as  the  Egyptian, 
spotless  in  his  white  linen  robe,  would  never  put  on  his  body. 
Their  arms  were  pinioned  behind  them  at  the  elbows  or 
crossed  over  their  heads  and  lashed  together ;  or,  again,  their 
hands  were  thrust  through  odd  pointed  ovals  of  wood,  which 
served  as  hand-cuffs.  The  women  carried  their  children 
slung  in  a  fold  of  the  mantle  over  their  shoulders.  With 
their  strange  speech  and  uncouth  postures  the  poor  wretches 


i  II,  760-1,  773. 


2  11,  761. 


THUTMOSE  III 


309 


were  the  subject  of  jibe  and  merriment  on  the  part  of  the 
multitude ;  while  the  artists  of  the  time  could  never  forbear 
caricaturing  them.  Many  of  them  found  their  way  into  the 
houses  of  the  Pharaoh's  favourites,  and  his  generals  were 
liberally  rewarded  with  gifts  of  such  slaves;  but  the  larger 
number  were  immediately  employed  on  the  temple  estates, 
the  Pharaoh's  domains,  or  in  the  construction  of  his  great 
monuments  and  buildings,1  especially  the  last,  a  custom 
which  continued  until  Saladin  built  the  citadel  at  Cairo 
with  the  labour  of  the  knights  whom  he  captured  from  the 
ranks  of  the  crusaders.  We  shall  later  see  how  this  captive 
labour  transformed  Thebes. 

The  return  of  the  king  every  autumn,  under  such  circum- 
stances, with  the  next  campaign  but  six  months  distant, 
began  for  him  a  winter,  if  not  so  arduous,  at  least  as  busily 
occupied  as  the  campaigning  season  in  Asia.  At  the  time 
of  the  feast  of  Opet,  that  is  in  October,  shortly  after  his 
return,  Thutmose  made  a  tour  of  inspection  throughout 
Egypt,  closely  questioning  the  local  authorities  wherever  he 
landed,  for  the  purpose  of  suppressing  corruption  in  the 
local  administration  by  preventing  all  collusion  between 
them  and  the  officers  of  the  central  government  in  extor- 
tionate oppression  of  the  people  while  collecting  taxes.2 
On  these  journeys,  too,  he  had  opportunity  of  observing  the 
progress  on  the  noble  temples  which  he  was  either  erecting, 
restoring  or  adorning  at  over  thirty  different  places  of  which 
we  know,  and  many  more  which  have  perished.  He  revived 
the  long  neglected  Delta  and  from  there  to  the  third  cataract 
his  buildings  were  rising,  strung  like  gems,  along  the  river. 
He  built  a  new  town  with  its  temple  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Fayum;  while  at  Dendereh,  Coptos,  El  Kab,  Edfu,  Kom 
Ombo,  Elephantine  and  many  other  places  his  captives  of 
war  and  his  imperial  revenues  were  producing  the  magnifi- 
cent works  which  he  and  his  architects  planned.  Eeturning 
to  Thebes  his  interests  were  wide  and  his  power  was  felt  in 
every  avenue  of  administration.    Besides  the  attention  con- 


i  II,  756-9. 


2  III,  58. 


310 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


tinually  demanded  by  Nubian  affairs,  of  which  we  shall 
speak  more  fully  later,  he  organized  the  other  gold-country, 
that  on  the  Coptos  road,  placing  it  under  a  "governor  of  the 
gold-country  of  Coptos. ' 1 1  It  is  evident  that  every  resource 
of  his  empire  was  being  thus  exploited.  The  increasing 
wealth  of  the  Amon  temple  demanded  reorganization  of  its 
management.  This  the  king  personally  accomplished,  giving 
the  priests  full  instructions  and  careful  regulations  for  the 
conduct  of  the  state  temple  and  its  growing  fortune.2  As 
the  fruit  of  a  moment's  respite  from  the  cares  of  state,  he 
even  handed  to  his  chief  of  artificers  in  the  state  and  temple 
workshops  designs  sketched  by  his  own  royal  hand  for  ves- 
sels which  he  desired  for  the  temple  service.  Thutmose 
himself  thought  sufficiently  well  of  this  accomplishment  to 
have  it  noted  over  a  relief  depicting  these  vessels  on  the 
temple  walls  at  Karnak,  after  they  had  been  presented  to 
the  god ;  while  in  the  opinion  of  the  official  who  received  the 
commission  it  was  a  fact  so  remarkable  that  he  had  the 
execution  of  these  vessels  by  his  artificers  shown  in  the 
paintings  on  the  walls  of  his  tomb  chapel.  Both  these  evi- 
dences of  Thutmose 's  restless  versatility  still  survive  at 
Thebes.3  The  great  state  temple  received  another  pylon  on 
the  south  and  the  whole  mass  of  buildings,  with  the  adjoining 
grove  and  garden,  was  given  unity  by  an  enclosure  wall,  with 
which  Thutmose  surrounded  them. 

His  campaigning  was  now  as  thoroughly  organized  as  the 
administration  at  Thebes.  As  soon  as  the  spring  rains  in 
Syria  and  Palestine  had  ceased,  he  regularly  disembarked 
his  troops  in  some  Phoenician  or  north  Syrian  harbour.  Here 
his  permanent  officials  had  effected  the  collection  of  the  nec- 
essary stores  from  the  neighbouring  dynasts,  who  were  obli- 
gated to  furnish  them.  His  palace-herald,  or  marshal,  Intef, 
who  was  of  the  old  princely  line  of  Thinis,  and  still  held  his 
title  as  "count  of  Thinis  and  lord  of  the  entire  oasis- 
region,  ' ' 4  accompanied  him  on  all  his  marches,  and  as  Thut- 
mose advanced  inland  Intef  preceded  him  until  the  proximity 


« II,  774. 


2 II,  571. 


» II,  545,  775. 


«II,  763. 


THUTMOSE  III 


311 


of  the  enemy  prevented.  Whenever  he  reached  a  town  in 
which  the  king  was  expected  to  spend  the  night,  he  sought 
out  the  palace  of  the  local  dynast  and  prepared  it  for  Thut- 
mose's  reception,  "When  my  lord  arrived  in  safety  where 
I  was,  I  had  prepared  it,  I  had  equipped  it  with  everything 
that  is  desired  in  a  foreign  country,  made  better  than  the 
palaces  of  Egypt,  purified,  cleansed,  set  apart,  their  man- 
sions adorned,  each  chamber  for  its  proper  purpose.  I 
made  the  king  satisfied  with  that  which  I  did."1  One  is 
reminded  of  the  regular  and  detailed  preparation  of  Napo- 
leon's tent,  which  he  always  found  awaiting  him  after  his 
day's  march,  as  he  rode  into  the  quarters  each  night.  All 
the  king's  intercourse  with  the  outside  world,  and  the  regu- 
lation of  the  simple  court  state  maintained  on  the  campaigns, 
was  in  Intef's  hands.  When  the  Syrian  princes  came  in 
to  offer  their  allegiance  and  pay  their  tribute,  it  was  Intef 
also  who  had  charge  of  the  interview;  he  informed  the  vas- 
sals what  they  were  expected  to  contribute  and  he  counted 
the  gold,  silver  and  naturalia  when  they  were  paid  in  at  the 
camp.  When  any  of  the  Pharaoh's  captains  distinguished 
himself  upon  the  battlefield,  it  was  again  Intef  who  reported 
it  to  the  king,  that  the  proper  reward  might  be  rendered  to 
the  fortunate  hero.2 

Had  it  been  preserved,  the  life  of  these  warriors  of  Thut- 
mose  would  form  a  stirring  chapter  in  the  history  of  the 
early  east.  The  career  of  his  general,  Amenemhab,  who  cut 
off  the  elephant's  trunk  and  rescued  the  king,  is  but  a  hint  of 
the  life  of  the  Pharaoh's  followers  in  bivouac  and  on  bat- 
tlefield, crowded  to  the  full  with  perilous  adventure  and  hard- 
won  distinction.  We  shall  meet  one  more  exploit  of  this 
same  Amenemhab,  but  his  is  the  only  such  career  which  has 
survived  in  authentic  narrative.  The  fame  of  these  tried 
veterans  of  Thutmose,  of  course,  found  its  way  among  the 
common  people  and  doubtless  many  a  stirring  adventure 
from  the  Syrian  campaigns  took  form  in  folk-tales,  told 
with  eager  interest  in  the  market-places  and  the  streets  of 


i  II,  771. 


2  11,  763-771. 


312 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Thebes.  A  lucky  chance  has  rescued  one  of  these  tales  writ- 
ten by  some  scribe  on  a  page  or  two  of  papyrus.  It  concerns 
one  Thutiy,  a  great  general  of  Thutmose,  and  his  clever  cap- 
ture of  the  city  of  Joppa  by  introducing  his  picked  soldiers 
into  the  town,  concealed  in  panniers,  borne  by  a  train  of 
donkeys.1  The  tale  is  probably  the  prototype  of  "AH  Baba 
and  the  Forty  Thieves."  But  Thutiy  was  not  a  creation  of 
fancy;  his  tomb,  though  now  unknown,  must  exist  some- 
where in  Thebes,  for  it  was  plundered  many  years  ago  by 
the  natives,  who  took  from  it  some  of  the  rich  gifts  which 
Thutmose  gave  him  as  a  reward  for  his  valour.  A  splendid 
golden  dish,  which  found  its  way  into  the  Louvre,  bears  the 
words:  "Given  as  a  distinction  from  king  Thutmose  III  to 
the  prince  and  priest  who  satisfies  the  king  in  every  country, 
and  the  isles  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  filling  the  treasury  with 
lapis-lazuli,  silver  and  gold,  the  governor  of  countries,  com- 
mander of  the  army,  favourite  of  the  king,  the  king's  scribe, 
Thutiy."2  A  jewel  of  his  in  the  Leyden  museum  calls  him 
"governor  of  the  north  countries,"3  so  that  he  must  have 
administered  Thutmose 's  northern  vassal-kingdoms.4 

Had  chance  so  decreed  we  might  have  known  not  only  the 
whole  romance  of  Thutmose 's  personal  adventures  on  the 
field  and  those  of  his  commanders,  but  also  the  entire  course 
of  his  campaigns,  which  we  could  have  followed  step  by  step ; 
for  a  record  of  every  day's  happenings  throughout  each 
campaign  was  carefully  kept  by  one  Thaneni,  a  scribe 
appointed  for  the  purpose  by  Thutmose.  Thaneni  tells  us 
of  his  duties  with  great  pride,  saying:  "I  followed  king 
Thutmose  III;  I  beheld  the  victories  of  the  king  which  he 
won  in  every  country.  He  brought  the  chiefs  of  Zahi  [Syria] 
as  living  prisoners  to  Egypt ;  he  captured  all  their  cities,  he 
cut  down  their  groves.  ...  I  recorded  the  victories  which 
he  won  in  every  land,  putting  them  into  writing  according 

>  II,  577. 

2 From  my  own  copy  of  the  original;  see  Birch,  Mem.  sur  une  patere  Egypt- 
ienne  du  Musee  du  Louvre,  Paris,  1858;  and  Pierret,  Salle  hist,  de  la  Gal. 
Egypt.,  Paris,  1889,  No.  358,  p.  87. 

'  My  own  copy.  *  See  p.  322. 


THUTMOSE  III  313 

to  the  facts."1  It  is  these  records  of  Thaneni  upon  rolls 
of  leather  which  are  referred  to  in  the  account2  of  the  first 
campaign  during  the  siege  of  Megiddo.  But  the  priceless 
rolls  have  perished  and  we  have  upon  the  wall  at  Karnak 
only  the  capricious  extracts  of  a  temple  scribe,  more  anxious 
to  set  forth  the  spoil  and  Amon's  share  therein  than  to  per- 
petuate the  story  of  his  king's  great  deeds.  How  much  he 
has  passed  over,  the  biography  of  Amenemhab  shows  only 
too  well;  and  thus  all  that  we  have  of  the  wars  of  Egypt's 
greatest  commander  has  filtered  through  the  shrivelled  soul 
of  an  ancient  bureaucrat,  who  little  dreamed  how  hungrily 
future  ages  would  ponder  his  meagre  excerpts. 

The  advancement  of  Egypt's  Asiatic  frontier  to  the 
Euphrates  again  was,  in  the  light  of  past  experience,  not 
an  achievement  from  which  he  might  expect  lasting  results ; 
nor  was  Thutmose  III  the  man  to  drop  the  work  he  had 
begun  as  if  it  were  complete  with  the  campaign  of  the  year 
thirty  three.  The  spring  of  the  thirty  fourth  year  therefore 
found  him  again  in  Zahi  on  his  ninth  campaign.3  Some  dis- 
affection, probably  in  the  Lebanon  region,  obliged  him  to 
take  three  towns,  one  of  which  at  least  was  in  the  district  of 
Nuges,  where  he  had  erected  a  fortress  at  the  close  of  the 
first  campaign.4  Considerable  spoil  was  captured  and  the 
Syrian  dynasts  as  usual  hastened  to  pay  their  tribute  and 
express  their  loyalty.5  Meanwhile  the  magazines  of  the 
harbour-towns  were  replenished  as  formerly,  but  especially 
with  ships  for  the  fleet,  and  with  masts  and  spars  for  naval 
repairs.6  The  tribute  of  the  year  was  rendered  notable  by 
a  present  of  one  hundred  and  eight  blocks  of  copper,  weigh- 
ing nearly  four  pounds  apiece,  beside  some  lead  and  costly 
stones  from  the  king  of  Cyprus,  who  had  not  heretofore  rec- 
ognized the  might  of  Thutmose  in  this  manner.7 

This  year  evidently  saw  the  extension  of  his  power  in  the 
south  also;  for  he  secured  the  son  of  the  chief  of  Irem,  the 

•  II,  392.  2  See  above,  p.  291.  >  II,  489.  *  II,  490. 

«  II,  491.  6  II,  492.  7  II,  493. 


314  A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 

neighbour  of  Punt  as  a  hostage;1  and  the  combined  tribute 
of  Nubia  amounted  to  over  one  hundred  and  thirty  four 
pounds  of  gold  alone,  besides  the  usual  ebony,  ivory,  grain, 
cattle  and  slaves.2  The  sway  of  Thutmose  was  absolute 
from  above  the  third  cataract  to  the  Euphrates  and  his  power 
was  at  its  zenith  when  he  learned  of  a  general  revolt  in 
Naharin.  It  was  now  nearly  two  years  since  he  had  seen 
that  region  and  in  so  short  a  time  its  princes  had  ceased  to 
fear  his  power.  They  formed  a  coalition,  with  some  prince 
at  its  head,  possibly  the  king  of  Aleppo,  whom  Thutmose 's 
Annals  call  "that  wretched  foe  of  Naharin."3  The  alliance 
was  strong  in  numbers,  for  it  included  the  far  north,  or  ' '  the 
ends  of  the  earth,' M  as  the  Egyptians  called  the  distant 
regions  of  Asia  where  their  knowledge  of  the  country  ceased. 
Thutmose 's  continual  state  of  preparation  enabled  him  to 
appear  promptly  on  the  plains  of  Naharin  in  the  spring  of 
the  year  thirty  five.  He  engaged  the  allies  in  battle  at  a 
place  called  Araina,5  which  we  are  unable  to  locate  with  cer- 
tainty, but  it  was  probably  somewhere  in  the  lower  Orontes 
valley.  "Then  his  majesty  prevailed  against  these  bar- 
barians. .  .  .  They  fled  headlong,  falling  one  over  another 
before  his  majesty."6  It  is  perhaps  this  battle  which 
Amenemhab  mentions  as  occurring  in  the  land  of  Tikhsi.7 
If  so,  he  fought  before  Thutmose,  as  the  latter  advanced 
against  the  enemy  and  both  took  booty  from  the  field:  the 
king  several  pieces  of  armour,  and  his  general  three  pris- 
oners, for  which  act  he  was  again  decorated  by  Thutmose. 
The  troops,  of  course,  found  rich  plunder  on  the  field :  horses, 
bronze  armour  and  weapons,  besides  chariots  richly  wrought 
with  gold  and  silver.8  The  alliance  of  the  Naharin  dynasts 
was  completely  shattered  and  its  resources  for  future  resist- 
ance destroyed  or  carried  off  by  the  victorious  Egyptians. 
Far  as  were  these  Syrian  princes  from  Egypt,  they  had 
learned  the  length  and  the  might  of  the  Pharaoh's  arm,  and 
it  was  seven  years  before  they  again  revolted. 

»  II,  494.  2  n,  494-5.  3  n,  498.  *  Ibid. 

6  Ibid.  8  II,  499.  •  II,  587.  8  II,  500-501. 


THUTMOSE  III 


315 


Thutmose 's  annals  for  the  next  two  years  are  lost,  and  we 
know  nothing  of  the  objective  of  his  eleventh  and  twelfth 
campaigns;  but  the  year  thirty  eight  found  him  in  the 
southern  Lebanon  region  on  his  thirteenth  campaign,  again 
chastising  the  region  of  Xuges,1  which  had  felt  his  power  for 
the  first  time  fifteen  years  before  on  the  first  campaign.  On 
this  expedition  he  received  not  only  another  gift  from  the 
king  of  Cyprus,  but  also  one  from  far  off  Arrapakhitis,  later 
a  province  of  Assyria.2  The  turbulent  Beduin  of  southern 
Palestine  forced  him  to  march  through  their  country  the  next 
year,  and  the  inevitable  Amenemhab  captured  three  pris- 
oners in  an  action  in  the  Negeb.3  He  then  spent  the  rest 
of  this  fourteenth  campaign  in  Syria,  where  it  became 
merely  a  tour  of  inspection;  but  in  both  years  he  kept  the 
harbours  supplied  as  before,  ready  for  every  emergency.  The 
tribute  seems  to  have  come  in  regularly  for  the  next  two 
years  (forty  and  forty  one),4  and  again  the  king  of  "Kheta 
the  great"  sent  gifts,  which  Thutmose  as  before  records 
among  the  ' '  tribute. ' ' 5 

The  princes  of  Syria,  sorely  chastised  as  they  had  been,  were 
nevertheless  unwilling  to  relinquish  finally  their  independ- 
ence, and  regard  the  suzerainty  of  Egypt  as  an  inevitable  and 
permanent  condition  of  their  rule.  Incited  by  Kadesh,  Thut- 
mose's  inveterate  enemy,  they  again  rose  in  a  final  united 
effort  to  shake  off  the  Pharaoh's  strong  hand.  All  Xaharin, 
especially  the  king  of  Tunip,  and  also  some  of  the  northern 
coast  cities,  had  been  induced  to  join  the  alliance.  The  great 
king  was  now  an  old  man,  probably  over  seventy  years  of 
age,  but  with  his  accustomed  promptitude  he  appeared  with 
his  fleet  off  the  north  coast  of  Syria  in  the  spring  of  the  year 
forty  two.  It  was  his  seventeenth  and  last  campaign.  Like 
his  first,  it  was  directed  against  his  arch  enemy,  Kadesh. 
Instead  of  approaching  the  place  from  the  south,  as  before, 
Thutmose  determined  to  isolate  her  from  her  northern  sup- 
port and  to  capture  Tunip  first.  He  therefore  landed  at 
some  point  between  the  mouth  of  the  Orontes  and  the  Xahr 

i  II,  507.       *  II,  511-12.       a  n)  5i7}  580,        *  II,  520-527,        5 II,  525. 


316 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


el-Kebir  and  captured  the  coast  city  of  Erkatu,1  the  exact 
location  of  which  is  not  certain ;  but  it  must  have  been  nearly 
opposite  Tunip,  against  which  he  then  marched.  He  was 
detained  at  Tunip  until  the  harvest  season,  but  he  captured 
the  place  after  a  short  resistance.2  He  then  accomplished 
the  march  up  the  Orontes  to  Kadesh  without  mishap  and 
wasted  the  towns  of  the  region.3  The  king  of  Kadesh,  know- 
ing that  his  all  was  lost  unless  he  could  defeat  Thutmose 's 
army,  made  a  desperate  resistance.  He  engaged  the  Egyp- 
tians in  battle  before  the  city,  and  in  the  effort  to  make  head 
against  Thutmose 's  seasoned  troops  the  Syrian  king  resorted 
to  a  stratagem.  He  sent  forth  a  mare  against  the  Egyptian 
chariotry,  hoping  thus  to  excite  the  stallions  and  produce 
confusion,  or  even  a  break  in  the  Egyptian  battle  line,  of 
which  he  might  take  advantage.  But  Amenemhab  leaped 
from  his  chariot,  sword  in  hand,  pursued  the  mare  on  foot, 
ripped  her  up  and  cut  off  her  tail,  which  he  carried  in 
triumph  to  the  king.4  Thutmose 's  siege-lines  now  closed  in 
on  the  doomed  city,  and  the  first  assault  was  ordered.  For 
this  purpose  he  selected  all  the  elite  of  his  army,  in  order  to 
breach  the  walls.  Amenemhab  was  placed  in  command. 
The  dangerous  feat  was  successfully  accomplished,  the  flower 
of  Thutmose 's  tried  veterans  poured  in  through  the  breach, 
Amenemhab  at  their  head,  and  the  strongest  city  of  Syria 
was  again  at  the  Pharaoh 's  mercy. 5  The  Naharin  auxiliaries 
in  the  city  fell  into  Thutmose 's  hands,  and  it  was  not  even 
necessary  for  him  to  march  into  the  north.  In  any  case,  at 
his  advanced  age  he  might  have  been  pardoned  for  avoiding 
so  arduous  an  expedition  after  a  long  campaign.  It  is  also 
probable  that  the  season  was  too  far  advanced  for  him  to 
undertake  so  long  a  march  before  the  cold  of  winter  should 
set  in.  However,  as  the  event  proved,  no  further  display  of 
force  in  the  north  was  necessary. 

Never  again  as  long  as  the  old  king  lived  did  the  Asiatic 
princes  make  any  attempt  to  shake  off  his  yoke.  In  seven- 
teen campaigns,  during  a  period  of  nineteen  years,  he  had 

*       529.  «II,  530.  531.  *  II,  5S9.  5 II,  590 


THUTMOSE  III 


317 


beaten  them  into  submission,  until  there  was  no  spirit  for 
resistance  left  among  them.  With  the  fall  of  Kadesh  disap- 
peared the  last  vestige  of  that  Hyksos  power  which  had  once 
subdued  Egypt.  Thutmose 's  name  became  a  proverb  in  their 
midst,  and  when,  four  generations  later,  his  successors  failed 
to  shield  their  faithful  vassals  in  Xaharin  from  the  aggression 
of  the  Kheta,  the  forsaken  unfortunates  remembered  Thut- 
mose 's  great  name,  and  wrote  pathetically  to  Egypt :  ' '  Who 
formerly  could  have  plundered  Tunip  without  being  plun- 
dered by  Manakhbiria  (Thutmose  III)?"1  But  even  now, 
at  three  score  and  ten  or  more,  the  indomitable  old  warrior 
had  the  harbours  equipped  with  the  necessary  supplies,2  and 
there  is  little  doubt  that  if  it  had  been  necessary  he  would 
have  led  his  army  into  Syria  again.  For  the  last  time  in 
Asia  he  received  the  envoys  of  the  tribute-paying  princes 
in  his  tent, 3  and  then  returned  to  Egypt.  There  the  Nubian 
envoys  brought  him  over  five  hundred  and  seventy  eight 
pounds  of  gold  from  Wawat  alone.4 

One  would  have  thought  that  the  old  king  might  now  enjoy 
a  well-earned  repose  for  the  few  years  that  remained  to  him ; 
but  having  at  last  established  the  sovereignty  of  Egypt  in 
Asia  on  a  permanent  basis,  he  turned  his  attention  to  Nubia. 
It  is  evident  that  Menkheperreseneb,  the  head  of  his  gold  and 
silver  treasury,5  was  now  receiving  thence  six  to  eight  hun- 
dred pounds  of  gold  every  year,  for,  as  we  now  see,  even 
the  incomplete  data  at  our  command  show  in  his  forty  first 
year  nearly  eight  hundred  pounds.0  His  viceroy,  Nehi,  had 
now  been  administering  Kush  for  twenty  years7  and  had 
placed  the  productivity  of  the  country  on  a  high  plane ;  but 
it  was  the  desire  of  the  great  king  to  extend  still  further  his 
dominions  in  the  south.  In  his  last  years  his  buildings  show 
that  he  was  extremely  active  throughout  the  province;  as 
far  as  the  third  cataract  we  trace  his  temples  at  Kalabsheh, 
Amada,  Wadi  Haifa,  Kummeh  and  Semneh,  where  he  re- 
stored the  temple  of  his  great  ancestor  Sesostris  III,  and  at 

1  Amarna  Letters,  ed.  Winckler,  41,  6-8.     * II,  535.      »  II,  533-4,  536-7. 
*  II,  539.  «II,  772  ff.  « II,  526-27.  '11,651-2. 


318 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Soleb.  We  learn  through  the  clearance  of  the  canal  at  the 
first  cataract,  which  he  was  obliged  to  effect  in  the  fiftieth 
year,1  that  an  expedition  of  his  was  then  returning  from  a 
campaign  against  the  Nubians.  It  is  impossible  to  suppose 
that  the  aged  Thutmose  accompanied  it.  There  must  have 
been  earlier  expeditions  also  in  the  same  region,  for  Thut- 
mose was  able  to  record  in  duplicate  upon  the  pylons  of  his 
Karnak  temple  a  list  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen  places  which 
he  conquered  in  Nubia  and  another  containing  some  four 
hundred  such  names.  The.  geography  of  Nubia  is  too  little 
known  to  enable  us  to  locate  the  territory  represented,  and  it 
is  uncertain  exactly  how  far  up  the  Nile  his  new  frontier 
may  have  been,  but  it  was  doubtless  well  up  toward  the 
fourth  cataract,  where  we  find  it  under  his  son. 

Twelve  years  more  were  vouchsafed  the  great  king  after 
he  had  returned  from  his  last  campaign  in  Asia.  As  he  felt 
his  strength  failing  he  made  coregent  his  son,  Amenhotep  II,:2 
born  to  him  by  Hatshepsut-Meretre,  a  queen  of  whose  origin 
we  know  nothing.  About  a  year  later,  on  the  17th  of  March, 
in  the  year  1447  B.  C,  when  he  was  within  five  weeks  of 
the  end  of  his  fifty  fourth  year  upon  the  throne,  he  closed 
his  eyes  upon  the  scenes  among  which  he  had  played  so  great 
a  part.3  He  was  buried  in  his  tomb  in  the  Valley  of  the 
Kings  by  his  son,  and  his  body  still  survives  (Fig.  120). 
Before  his  death  the  priests  of  Amon  had  put  into  the  mouth 
of  their  god  a  hymn  of  praise4  to  him,  which,  although  a 
highly  artificial  composition,  is  not  without  effectiveness  as 
literature ;  and  shows  at  the  same  time  not  only  how  universal 
was  his  sway  as  the  priests  saw  it,  but  also  how  deeply  he  had 
wrought  upon  the  imagination  of  his  contemporaries.  After 
a  long  introduction  in  praise  of  Thutmose,  Amon,  his  god, 
says  to  him: 

I  have  come,  giving  thee  to  smite  the  princes  of  Zahi, 
I  have  hurled  them  beneath  thy  feet  among  their  highlands ; 
I  have  made  them  see  thy  majesty  as  lord  of  radiance, 
So  that  thou  hast  shone  in  their  faces  like  my  image. 

«  II,  649-650.  2  II,  184.  «  II,  592.  <  II,  655  ff. 


THUTMOSE  III 


319 


I  have  come,  giving  thee  to  smite  the  Asiatics, 
Thou  hast  made  captive  the  heads  of  the  Asiatics  of  Retenu ; 
I  have  made  them  see  thy  majesty  equipped  with  thy  adornment, 
When  thou  hast  taken  the  weapons  of  war  in  the  chariot. 

I  have  come,  giving  thee  to  smite  the  eastern  land, 
Thou  hast  trampled  those  who  are  in  the  districts  of  God's-Land; 
I  have  made  them  see  thy  mc.jesty  as  a  circling  star, 
When  it  scatters  its  flame  in  fire  and  cives  forth  its  dew. 

I  have  come,  giving  thee  to  smite  the  western  land, 
Keftyew  and  Cyprus  are  in  terror; 
I  have  made  them  see  thy  majesty  as  a  young  bull, 
Firm  of  heart,  ready-horned  and  irresistible. 

I  have  come,  giving  thee  to  smite  those  who  are  in  their  marshes) 
The  lands  of  Mitanni  tremble  under  fear  of  thee ; 
I  have  made  them  see  thy  majesty  as  a  crocodile, 
Lord  of  fear  in  the  water,  inapproachable. 

I  have  come,  giving  thee  to  smite  those  who  are  in  their  isles, 
Those  who  are  in  the  midst  of  the  great  sea  hear  thy  roarings ; 
I  have  made  them  see  thy  majesty  as  an  avenger, 
Rising  upon  the  back  of  his  slain  victim. 

I  have  come,  giving  thee  to  smite  the  Libyans, 
The  isles  of  the  Utentyew  belong  to  the  might  of  thy  prowess; 
I  have  made  them  see  thy  majesty  as  a  fierce-eyed  lion, 
While  thou  makest  them  corpses  in  their  valleys. 

I  have  come,  giving  thee  to  smite  the  uttermost  ends  of  the 
lands ; 

The  circuit  of  the  Great  Curve  (Okeanos)  is  enclosed  in  thy  grasp ; 
I  have  made  them  see  thy  majesty  as  a  soaring  hawk, 
Seizing  that  which  he  seeth,  as  much  as  he  desires. 

I  have  come,  giving  thee  to  smite  those  who  are  nigh  thy  border, 
Thou  hast  smitten  the  Sand-Dwellers  as  living  captives; 
I  have  made  them  see  thy  majesty  as  a  southern  jackal, 
Swift-footed,  stealthy-going,  who  roves  the  Two  Lands. 

We  have  seen  enough  of  Thutmose  to  know  that  this  was 
not  all  poetry,  the  adulation  of  a  fawning  priesthood.  His 
character  stands  forth  with  more  of  colour  and  individuality 
than  that  of  any  king  of  early  Egypt,  except  Ikhnaton.  We 
see  the  man  of  a  tireless  energy  unknown  in  pny  Pharaoh 
before  or  since;  the  man  of  versatility,  designing  exquisite 


320 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


vases  in  a  moment  of  leisure;  the  lynx-eyed  administrator, 
who  launched  his  armies  upon  Asia  with  one  hand  and  with 
the  other  crushed  the  extortionate  tax-gatherer.  His  vizier, 
Rekhmire,  who  stood  closest  to  his  person,  says  of  him :  ' 4  Lo, 
his  majesty  was  one  who  knew  what  happened;  there  was 
nothing  of  which  he  was  ignorant;  he  was  Thoth  [the  god 
of  knowledge]  in  everything ;  there  was  no  matter  which  he 
did  not  carry  out. '  '  1  While  he  was  proud  to  leave  a  record 
of  his  unparalleled  achievements,  Thutmose  protests  more 
than  once  his  deep  respect  for  the  truth  in  so  doing.  "I 
have  not  uttered  exaggeration,"  says  he,  ' ' in  order  to  boast 
of  that  which  I  did,  saying, ' 1  have  done  something, '  although 
my  majesty  had  not  done  it.  I  have  not  done  anything  .  .  . 
against  which  contradiction  might  be  uttered.  I  have  done 
this  for  my  father,  Amon  .  .  .  because  he  knoweth  heaven 
and  he  knoweth  earth,  he  seeth  the  whole  earth  hourly."2 
Such  protestations,  mingled  with  reverence  for  his  god  as 
demanding  the  truth,  are  not  infrequently  on  his  lips.3  His 
reign  marks  an  epoch  not  only  in  Egypt  but  in  the  whole  east 
as  we  know  it  in  his  age.  Never  before  in  history  had  a 
single  brain  wielded  the  resources  of  so  great  a  nation  and 
wrought  them  into  such  centralized,  permanent  and  at  the 
same  time  mobile  efficiency,  that  for  years  they  could  be 
brought  to  bear  with  incessant  impact  upon  another  conti- 
nent as  a  skilled  artisan  manipulates  a  hundred-ton  forge 
hammer ;  although  the  figure  is  inadequate  unless  we  remem- 
ber that  Thutmose  forged  his  own  hammer.  The  genius 
which  rose  from  an  obscure  priestly  office  to  accomplish  this 
for  the  first  time  in  history  reminds  us  of  an  Alexander  or 
a  Napoleon.  He  built  the  first  real  empire,  and  is  thus  the 
first  character  possessed  of  universal  aspects,  the  first  world- 
hero.  From  the  fastnesses  of  Asia  Minor,  the  marshes  of 
the  upper  Euphrates,  the  islands  of  the  sea,  the  swamps  of 
Babylonia,  the  distant  shores  of  Libya,  the  oases  of  the 
Sahara,  the  terraces  of  the  Somali  coast  and  the  upper  cat- 
aracts of  the  Nile  the  princes  of  his  time  rendered  their 


»  II,  064. 


*  II,  570. 


a  II,  452. 


THUTMOSE  III 


321 


tribute  to  his  greatness.  He  thus  made  not  only  a  world- 
wide impression  upon  his  age,  but  an  impression  of  a  new 
order.  His  commanding  figure,  towering  like  an  embodi- 
ment of  righteous  penalty  among  the  trivial  plots  and  treach- 
erous schemes  of  the  petty  Syrian  dynasts,  must  have  clar- 
ified the  atmosphere  of  oriental  politics  as  a  strong  wind 
drives  away  miasmic  vapours.  The  inevitable  chastisement 
of  his  strong  arm  was  held  in  awed  remembrance  by  the 
men  of  Naharin  for  three  generations.  His  name  was  one 
to  conjure  with,  and  centuries  after  his  empire  had  crumbled 
to  pieces  it  was  placed  on  amulets  as  a  word  of  power.  It 
should  be  a  matter  of  gratification  to  us  of  the  western  world 
that  one  of  this  king's  greatest  monuments,  his  Heliopolitan 
obelisks,1  now  rises  on  our  own  shores  as  a  memorial  of  the 
world's  first  empire-builder. 

1  Of  this  pair  one  is  on  the  Thames  embankment  in  London,  and  the  other 
in  Central  Park,  New  York  City.    See  p.  306. 


21 


CHAPTER  XVII 


THE  EMPIRE 

The  imperial  age  was  now  at  its  full  noontide  in  the  Nile 
valley.  The  old  seclusiveness  had  totally  disappeared,  the 
wall  of  partition  between  Asia  and  Africa,  already  shaken 
by  the  Hyksos,  was  now  broken  down  completely  by  the  wars 
of  Thutmose  III.  Traditional  limits  disappeared,  the  cur- 
rents of  life  eddied  no  longer  within  the  landmarks  of  tiny 
kingdoms,  but  pulsed  from  end  to  end  of  a  great  empire, 
embracing  many  kingdoms  and  tongues,  from  the  upper  Nile 
to  the  upper  Euphrates.  The  wealth  of  Asiatic  trade,  cir- 
culating through  the  eastern  end  of  the  Mediterranean,  which 
once  flowed  down  the  Euphrates  to  Babylon,  was  thus  di- 
verted to  the  Nile  Delta,  centuries  earlier  united  by  canal 
with  the  Red  Sea.  All  the  world  traded  in  the  Delta  mar- 
kets. Assyria  was  still  in  her  infancy  and  Babylonia  no 
longer  possessed  any  political  influence  in  the  west.  The 
Pharaoh  looked  forward  to  an  indefinite  lease  of  power 
throughout  the  vast  empire  which  he  had  conquered. 

Of  his  administration  in  Asia  we  know  very  little.  The 
whole  region  was  under  the  general  control  of  a  "governor 
of  the  north  countries";  Thutmose  Ill's  general,  Thutiy, 
being  the  first  to  hold  that  office.1  To  bridle  the  turbulent 
Asiatic  dynasts  it  was  necessary  permanently  to  station 
troops  throughout  Syria-Palestine.  Strongholds  named  after 
the  Pharaoh  were  established  and  the  troops  placed  in  them 
as  garrisons  under  deputies  with  power  to  act  as  the  Phar- 
aoh's representatives.2  Thutmose  III  erected  one  such  at 
the  south  end  of  Lebanon  ;3  he  resuscitated  another  founded 
by  his  predecessors  at  some  city  on  the  Phoenician  coast, 


i  See  p.  312. 


2  Amarna  Letters. 
322 


3  11,  548. 


THE  EMPIRE 


323 


where  we  find  a  sanctuary  of  Anion,1  the  state  god  ^f  Egypt, 
and  there  was  probably  such  a  temple  in  each  of  the  gar- 
rison towns.  Yet  another  stronghold  at  Ikathi,2  in  furthest 
Xaharin,  was  doubtless  his  foundation.  Remains  of  an 
Egyptian  temple  found  by  Eenan  at  Byblos.3  doubtless 
belong  to  this  period.  As  we  have  seen,  the  city-kings  were 
allowed  to  rule  their  little  states  with  great  freedom,  as  long 
as  they  paid  the  annual  tribute  with  promptness  and  regu- 
larity. When  such  a  ruler  died  his  son,  who  had  been  edu- 
cated at  Thebes,  was  installed  in  the  father's  place.  The 
Asiatic  conquests  were  therefore  rather  a  series  of  tributary 
kingdoms  than  provinces,  which  indeed  represent  a  system 
of  foreign  government  as  yet  in  its  infancy,  or  only  roughly 
foreshadowed  in  the  rule  of  the  viceroy  of  Kush.  How  the 
local  government  of  the  city-kings  was  related  to  the  admin- 
istration of  the  1 '  governor  of  the  north  countries 9 '  is  entirely 
uncertain.  His  office  was  apparently  largely  a  fiscal  one, 
for  Thutiy,  Thutmose  Ill's  governor,  adds  to  his  name  the 
phrase  "filling  the  treasury  with  lapis-lazuli,  silver  and 
gold."4  But  it  is  evident  that  the  dynasts  collected  their 
own  taxes  and  rendered  a  part  to  the  Pharaoh.  We  are 
unable  to  determine  what  portion  of  his  income  the  Asiatic 
vassal  was  thus  obliged  to  contribute;  nor  have  we  the 
slightest  idea  how  large  was  the  Pharaoh's  total  revenue 
from  Asia. 

As  so  often  in  similar  empires  of  later  age,  when  the  great 
king  died  the  tributary  princes  revolted.  Thus  when  the 
news  of  Thutmose  Ill's  death  reached  Asia  the  opportunity 
was  improved  and  the  dynasts  made  every  preparation  to 
throw  off  the  irksome  obligation  of  the  annual  tribute. 
Amenhotep  II  had  reigned  as  coregent  but  a  year  when  his 
father  died5  and  the  storm  broke.  All  Xaharin,  including 
the  Mitanni  princes,  and  probably  also  the  northern  coast 
cities,  were  combined  or  at  least  simultaneous  in  the  uprising. 
With  all  his  father 's  energy  the  young  king  prepared  for  the 

■  II,  457-8.  2 II,  787.  8  Rouge\  Revue  arch.  n.  s.  VII,  1863,  pp.  194  ff. 
«  See  above,  p.  312.  5  n,  184. 


324 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


crisis  and  marched  into  Asia  against  the  allies,  who  had  col- 
lected a  large  army. 1  The  south  had  evidently  not  ventured 
to  rebel,  but  from  northern  Palestine  on,  the  revolt  was  gen- 
eral. Leaving  Egypt  with  his  forces  in  April  of  his  second 
year  (1447  B.  C),  Amenhotep  was  in  touch  with  the  enemy 
in  northern  Palestine  early  in  May  and  immediately  fought 
an  action  at  Shemesh-Edom2against  the  princes  of  Lebanon. 
In  this  encounter  he  led  his  forces  in  person,  as  his  fathei 
before  him  had  so  often  done,  and  mingled  freely  in  the 
hand-to-hand  fray.  With  his  own  hand  he  took  eighteen 
prisoners  and  sixteen  horses.3  The  enemy  was  routed.  By 
the  twelfth  of  May  he  had  crossed  the  Orontes  for  the  last 
time  in  his  northward  advance,  probably  at  Senzar  and 
turned  northeastward  for  the  Euphrates.4  He  fought  a 
skirmish  with  the  Naharin  advance  just  after  crossing  the 
river,5  but  pushed  rapidly  on  and  captured  seven  of  the 
rebellious  dynasts  in  the  land  of  Tikhsi.6  On  the  26th  of 
May,  fourteen  days  after  leaving  the  Orontes,  he  arrived  at 
Niy,  which  opened  its  gates  to  him;  and  with  the  men  and 
women  of  the  town  acclaiming  him  from  the  walls  he  entered 
the  place  in  triumph.7  Ten  days  later,  on  the  fifth  of  June, 
he  had  rescued  a  garrison  of  his  troops  from  the  treachery 
of  the  revolting  town  of  Ikathi8  and  punished  its  inhabitants. 
Whether  the  march  to  this  town  carried  him  northward  from 
Niy,  up  the  Euphrates  or  across  it  and  into  Mitanni,  is  uncer- 
tain ;  but  the  latter  is  the  more  probable,  for  his  records  say 
of  him,  "The  chiefs  of  Mitanni  come  to  him,  their  tribute 
upon  their  backs,  to  beseech  his  majesty  that  there  may  be 
given  to  them  his  sweet  breath  of  life ;  a  mighty  occurrence, 
it  has  never  been  heard  since  the  time  of  the  gods.  This 
country,  which  knew  not  Egypt,  beseeches  the  Good  God  [the 
Pharaoh 9  As  he  reached  his  extreme  advance,  which 
thus  probably  surpassed  his  father's,  he  set  up  a  boundary 
tablet,  10as  his  father  and  grandfather  had  done.  His  return 
was  a  triumphal  procession  as  he  approached  Memphis. 

1 II,  792,  1.  4.       a  n,  783>        3  ibid.         «  II,  784.        *  Ibid. 

•  II,  707.  I II,  786.        s  ii,  787.     9  n,  804.        »  II,  800,  11.  4-5 


THE  EMPIRE 


325 


The  populace  assembled  in  admiring  crowds  while  his  lines 
passed,  driving  with  them  over  five  hundred  of  the  north 
Syrian  lords,  two  hundred  and  forty  of  their  women,  two 
hundred  and  ten  horses  and  three  hundred  chariots.  His 
herald  had  in  charge  for  the  chief  treasurer  nearly  sixteen 
hundred  and  sixty  pounds  of  gold  in  the  form  of  vases 
and  vessels,  besides  nearly  one  hundred  thousand  pounds 
of  copper.1  Proceeding  to  Thebes,  he  took  with  him  the 
seven  kings  of  Tikhsi,  who  were  hung  head  downward  on 
the  prow  of  his  royal  barge  as  he  approached  the  city.  He 
personally  sacrificed  them  in  the  presence  of  Amon  and 
hanged  their  bodies  on  the  walls  of  Thebes,  reserving  one  for 
a  lesson  to  the  Nubians  as  we  shall  see.2  His  unexpected 
energy  had  evidently  crushed  the  revolt  before  it  had  been 
able  to  muster  all  its  forces,  and  in  so  far  as  we  know,  the 
lesson  was  so  effective  that  no  further  attempt  was  made 
against  his  suzerainty  in  Asia. 

The  young  Pharaoh  now  directed  his  energies  toward 
ensuring  the  security  of  the  other  extremity  of  his  empire 
and  establishing  his  southern  frontier.  On  his  arrival  at 
Thebes  he  dispatched  an  expedition  into  Nubia,  bearing  the 
body  of  the  seventh  king  of  the  land  of  Tikhsi,  which  was 
hung  up  on  the  wall  of  Napata,  as  a  hint  of  what  the  Nubians 
might  expect  should  they  attempt  revolt  against  their  new 
sovereign.  The  operations  of  Thutmose  III  in  upper  Nubia 
now  made  it  possible  for  Amenhotep  to  establish  his  frontier 
at  the  fourth  cataract ;  it  was  guarded  by  Napata,  just  below 
the  cataract,  and  the  region  of  Karoy,  in  which  the  town  lay, 
was  from  this  time  on  known  as  the  southern  limit  of  Egyp- 
tian administration.  To  this  point  extended  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  "  viceroy  of  Kush  and  governor  of  the  south  coun- 
tries. " 3  This  carried  the  territory  of  Egypt  around  the 
great  bend  in  the  river  to  the  region  where  the  stream  often 
flows  southward.  Here  Amenhotep  set  up  tablets  marking 
his  southern  frontier,4  and  beyond  these  there  was  no  more 
control  of  the  rude  Nubian  tribes  than  was  necessary  to  keep 


i  II,  790. 


'  IT,  797. 


8  11,  1025. 


*II,  800. 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


open  the  trade-routes  from  the  south  and  prevent  the  bar- 
barians from  becoming  so  bold  as  to  invade  the  province  in 
plundering  expeditions.  About  nine  months  after  his  return 
from  the  Asiatic  campaign,  the  Nubian  expedition  erected 
two  stelas,  one  at  Amada  and  the  other  at  Elephantine, 
recording  his  completion  of  the  temples  begun  by  his  father 
at  these  places.1  He  there  tells  us  of  the  fate  of  the  Tikhsi 
kings,  and  although  the  second  campaign  had  not  yet  taken 
place,  he  refers  to  his  Naharin  war  as  his  4 4 first  campaign," 
a  significant  prophecy  of  the  life  of  conquest  which  he  ex- 
pected to  lead.  It  was  now  regarded  as  a  matter  of  course 
that  Amon  had  pressed  into  the  eager  hand  of  every  Pharaoh 
sceptre  and  sword  alike.  The  work  of  Amenhotep's  great 
father  was  so  thoroughly  done,  however,  that,  as  far  as  we 
know,  he  was  not  obliged  to  invade  either  Asia  or  Nubia 
again. 

In  Thebes  he  built  his  now  vanished  mortuary  temple  on 
the  west  side  of  the  river,  by  that  of  his  father,  while  in  the 
Karnak  temple  he  restored  the  long  dismantled  hall  of 
Hatshepsut's  obelisks,  setting  up  again  the  columns  which 
she  had  removed  and  richly  adorning  them  with  precious 
metal.  He  recorded  the  restoration  on  the  wall  which  his 
father  had  built  around  the  obelisks  of  Hatshepsut  to  hide 
their  inscriptions  forever  from  view.2  Besides  a  small  col- 
onnaded structure  at  Karnak,  he  also  built  at  Memphis  and 
Heliopolis,  restoring  the  neighbouring  quarries  of  Troja; 
but  all  his  works  there  have  perished.  We  are  able  to  discern 
little  of  him  personally,  but  he  seems  to  have  been  a  worthy 
son  of  the  great  king.  Physically  he  was  a  very  powerful 
man  and  claims  in  his  inscriptions  that  no  man  could  draw 
his  bow.  The  weapon  was  found  in  his  tomb  and  bears  the 
words  after  his  name:  "Smiter  of  the  Troglodytes,  over- 
thrower  of  Kush,  hacking  up  their  cities  .  .  .  the  great  Wall 
of  Egypt,  protector  of  his  soldiers."3  It  is  this  story  which 
furnished  Herodotus  with  the  legend  that  Cambyses  was 
unable  to  draw  the  bow  of  the  king  of  Ethiopia.    He  cele- 


i  II,  791-8, 


2  11,  803-6. 


»II,  p.  310,  note  d. 


Fig.  120— HEAD  OF  THL'TMOSE  HI. 
(From  his  mummy.    Cairo  Museum.) 


i  

Fig.  122.— HEAD  OF  THUTMOSE  IV,  SON  OF 
AMENHOTEP  II. 
(From  his  mummy.    Cairo  Museum.) 


Fig.  121.— HEAD  OF  AMENHOTEP  II,  SON 
THUTMOSE  III. 
(From  his  mummy  still  in  his  tomb  at  Thebes.) 


Fig.  123  —  AMARNA  LETTER,  NO.  296. 
Containing  list  of  the  dowry  of  the  Mitannian 

King  Dushratta's  daughter,  Tadukhipa. 

(Berlin  Museum.) 


THE  EMPIRE 


327 


brated  his  jubilee  on  the  thirtieth  anniversary  of  his  appoint- 
ment as  crown  prince  and  erected  an  obelisk  in  Elephantine 
in  commemoration  of  the  event.  Dying  about  1420  B.  C,  after 
a  reign  of  some  twenty  six  years,  he  was  interred  like  his  an- 
cestors in  the  valley  of  the  kings '  tombs,  where  his  body  rests 
to  this  day  (Fig.  121),  though  even  now  a  prey  to  the  clever 
tomb-robbers  of  modern  Thebes,  who  in  November,  1901, 
forced  the  tomb  and  cut  through  the  wrappings  of  the 
mummy  in  their  search  for  royal  treasure  on  the  body  of  their 
ancient  ruler.1  Their  Theban  ancestors  in  the  same  craft, 
however,  had  three  thousand  years  ago  taken  good  care  that 
nothing  should  be  left  for  their  descendants.2 

Amenhotep  II  was  followed  by  his  son,  Thutmose  IV.  It 
is  possible  that  this  prince  was  not  at  first  designed  to  be 
his  father's  successor,  if  we  may  believe  a  folk-tale  which 
was  in  circulation  some  centuries  later.  The  story  recounted 
how,  long  before  his  father's  death,  a  hunting  expedition 
once  carried  him  to  the  desert  near  the  pyramids  of  Gizeh, 
where  the  Pharaohs  of  the  Fourth  Dynasty  had  already  slept 
over  thirteen  hundred  years.  He  rested  in  the  shadow  of 
the  great  Sphinx  at  noon  time,  and  falling  asleep,  the  sun- 
god,  with  whom  the  Sphinx  in  his  time  was  identified,  ap- 
peared to  him  in  a  dream,  beseeching  him  to  clear  his  image 
from  the  sand  which  already  at  that  early  day  encumbered 
it,  and  at  the  same  time  promising  him  the  kingdom.  The 
prince  made  a  vow  to  do  as  the  great  god  desired.  The  god's 
promise  was  fulfilled  and  the  young  king  immediately  upon 
his  accession  hastened  to  redeem  his  vow.  He  cleared  the 
gigantic  figure  of  the  Sphinx  and  recorded  the  whole  inci- 
dent on  a  stela  in  the  vicinity.  A  later  version,  made  by  the 
priests  of  the  palace,  was  engraved  on  a  huge  granite  archi- 
trave taken  from  the  neighbouring  Osiris-temple  and  erected 
against  the  breast  of  the  Sphinx  between  the  forelegs,  where 
it  still  stands.3 

He  was  early  called  upon  to  maintain  the  empire  in  Asia. 
We  are,  however,  entirely  ignorant  of  the  course  of  his  cam- 


5 IV,  507-8. 


«  Infra,  pp.  510-U. 


•II,  810-815. 


328 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


paign  there,  which,  like  his  father,  he  called  his  i 1  first  cam- 
paign."1 It  is  evident,  however,  that  he  was  obliged  to 
advance  into  the  far  north,  eventually  invading  Naharin,  so 
that  he  was  afterward  able  to  record  in  the  state  temple  at 
Thebes  the  spoil,  " which  his  majesty  captured  in  Naharin 
the  wretched,  on  his  first  victorious  campaign. ' ' 2  The  imme- 
diate result  of  his  appearance  in  Naharin  was  completely 
to  quiet  all  disaffection  there  as  far  as  the  vassal-princes 
were  concerned.  He  returned  by  way  of  Lebanon  where  he 
forced  the  chiefs  to  furnish  him  with  a  cargo  of  cedar  for 
the  sacred  barge  of  Amon  at  Thebes.3  Arriving  at  Thebes, 
he  settled  a  colony  of  the  prisoners,  possibly  from  the  city 
of  Gezer  in  Palestine,4  in  the  enclosure  of  his  mortuary 
temple,  which  he  had  erected  by  those  of  his  ancestors  on 
the  plain  at  Thebes.  Perhaps  the  recognition  of  a  common 
enemy  in  the  Kheta  now  produced  a  rapprochement  between 
the  Pharaoh  and  Mitanni,  for  the  latter  was  soon  to  suffer 
from  the  aggressions  of  the  king  of  Kheta.  Thutmose  evi- 
dently desired  a  friend  in  the  north,  for  he  sent  to  Artatama, 
the  Mitannian  king,  and  desired  his  daughter  in  marriage.5 
After  some  proper  display  of  reluctance,  Artatama  consented, 
and  the  Mitannian  princess  was  sent  to  Egypt,  where  she 
probably  received  an  Egyptian  name,  Mutemuya,  and  became 
the  mother  of  the  next  king  of  Egypt,  Amenhotep  III.  A 
firm  alliance  with  Mitanni  was  thus  formed,  which  forbade 
all  thought  of  future  conquest  by  the  Pharaoh  east  of  the 
Euphrates.  A  friendly  alliance  was  also  cemented  with 
Babylonia.6  Although  it  is  probable  that  Thutmose  found 
it  unnecessary  to  invade  Asia  again,  he  was  called  the  1  *  con- 
queror of  Syria"  by  his  nobles,7  and  the  tribute  of  the  Syrian 
princes  regularly  appeared  at  the  office  of  the  vizier  or  the 
treasurer.8  In  the  spring  of  the  year  eight  news  of  a  serious 
revolt  in  Nubia  reached  him.9  After  a  triumphant  voyage 
up  the  river,  having  stopped  to  greet  the  gods  in  all  the 
larger  temples,  he  passed  the  first  cataract,  and  advancing 

1  II,  817.  2  Ibid.  a  II,  822,  838. 

«II,  821.  sAmarna  Letters,  21,  16-18.       ^Amarna  Letters,  1,  1.  63. 

'II,  822.  §n,  819-820.  » II,  826. 


THE  EMPIRE 


529 


into  Wawat,  he  seems  to  have  found  the  enemy  surprisingly 
near  the  northern  boundary  of  Nubia.  There  was  of  course 
but  one  possible  issue  for  the  battle  which  followed,  and 
great  quantities  of  spoil  fell  into  Thutmose's  hands.1  Again 
he  settled  the  prisoners  which  he  took  as  serfs  of  his  mor- 
tuary temple.2 

It  is  probable  that  Thutmose  did  not  long  survive  the  war 
in  Nubia.  He  was  therefore  unable  to  beautify  Thebes  and 
adorn  the  state  temple  as  his  fathers  had  done.  But  the 
respect  in  which  he  held  his  grandfather,  Thutmose  III,  led 
him  to  the  completion  of  a  notable  work  of  the  latter.  For 
thirty  five  years  the  last  obelisk  planned  by  Thutmose  III 
had  been  lying  unfinished  at  the  southern  portal  of  the 
Karnak  temple  enclosure  or  temenos.  His  grandson  now  had 
it  engraved  in  the  old  conqueror's  name,  recorded  also  upon 
it  his  own  pious  deed  in  continuing  the  work,  and  erected  the 
colossal  shaft,  one  hundred  and  five  and  a  half  feet  high, 
the  largest  surviving  obelisk,  at  the  southern  portal  of  the 
enclosure,  where  he  had  found  it  lying.  It  now  stands  before 
the  Lateran  in  Rome.  Not  long  after  this  gracious  act, 
which  may  possibly  have  been  in  celebration  of  his  own  jubi- 
lee, Thutmose  was  gathered  to  his  fathers  (about  1411  B.  C.) 
and  was  buried  in  the  valley  where  they  slept  (Fig.  122). 

The  son  who  succeeded  him  was  the  third  of  the  Amen- 
hoteps  and  the  last  of  the  great  emperors.  He  was  but  the 
great  grandson  of  Thutmose  III,  but  with  him  the  high  tide 
of  Egyptian  power  was  already  slowly  on  the  ebb,  and  he 
was  not  the  man  to  stem  the  tide.  An  early  evidence  of  the 
effeminate  character,  which  he  afterward  showed,  is  notice- 
able in  his  relation  with  his  queen.  Already  as  crown  prince, 
or  at  least  early  in  his  reign  he  married  a  remarkable 
woman,  of  uncertain  origin,  named  Tiy.  There  is  not  a  par- 
ticle of  evidence  to  prove  her  of  foreign  birth,  as  is  so  often 
claimed.  In  celebration  of  the  marriage,  Amenhotep  issued 
a  large  number  of  scarabs,  or  sacred  beetles,  carved  in  stone 
and  engraved  with  a  record3  of  the  event,  in  which  the  unti- 

829.  til,  824.  »  II,  861-2. 


330 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


tied  parentage  of  his  queen  frankly  follows  her  name  in  the 
very  royal  titulary  itself,  which  declares  her  to  be  the  queen- 
consort.  But  the  record  closes  with  the  words :  ' '  She  is  the 
wife  of  a  mighty  king  whose  southern  boundary  is  as  far  as 
Karoy  and  northern  as  far  as  Naharin";1  as  if  to  remind 
any  who  might  reflect  upon  the  humble  origin  of  the  queen 
of  the  exalted  station  which  she  now  occupied.  From  the 
beginning  the  new  queen  exerted  a  powerful  influence  over 
Amenhotep,  and  he  immediately  inserted  her  name  in  the 
official  caption  placed  at  the  head  of  royal  documents.  Her 
power  continued  throughout  his  reign  and  was  the  beginning 
of  a  remarkable  era  characterized  by  the  prominence  of  the 
queens  in  state  affairs  and  on  public  occasions,  a  peculiarity 
which  we  find  only  under  Amenhotep  III  and  his  immediate 
successors.  The  significance  of  these  events  we  shall  later 
dwell  upon. 

In  the  administration  of  Lis  great  empire  Amenhotep  III 
began  well.  The  Asiatics  gave  him  no  trouble  at  his  acces- 
sion, and  he  ruled  in  security  and  unparalleled  splendour. 
Toward  the  close  of  his  fourth  year,  however,  trouble  in 
Nubia  called  him  south.  Early  in  October  he  had  improved 
the  high  water  to  pass  the  cataract  with  his  fleet.  His  vice- 
roy of  Nubia,  Mermose,  had  levied  an  army  of  Nubians  in 
the  region  from  the  vicinity  of  Kubban  for  seventy  five  miles 
up  to  Ibrim.2  These,  with  the  Pharaoh's  Egyptians,  were 
to  be  employed  against  the  Nubians  of  the  upper  country,  a 
striking  evidence  of  the  very  Egyptianized  character  of  lower 
Nubia.  When  they  had  reached  Ibhet,  which  is  at  least 
above  the  second  cataract,  they  found  the  enemy  and  engaged 
them  in  battle,  probably  on  the  anniversary  of  the  king's 
coronation,  the  first  day  of  his  fifth  year.  They  took  seven 
hundred  and  forty  prisoners  and  slew  three  hundred  and 
twelve,  as  recorded  on  a  tablet  of  victory  which  they  set  up 
at  the  second  cataract.3  The  outlying  villages  and  wells 
were  visited  by  small  parties  and  the  inhabitants  punished 
to  prevent  further  recurrences  of  insubordination;4  where- 

1 II,  862.  2  II,  852.  *  II.  853-4.  «  II,  850. 


THE  EMPIRE 


331 


upon  Amenhotep  marched  southward  for  a  month,  taking 
captives  and  spoil  as  he  went.1  Arriving  finally  at  the 
"height  of  Hua,"  a  place  of  uncertain  location,  which,  how- 
ever, occurs  in  the  lists,  together  with  Punt,  and  must  have 
been  a  long  distance  south,  perhaps  above  the  cataracts,  he 
camped  in  the  land  of  Uneshek  on  the  south  of  Hua,  This 
marked  his  extreme  southern  advance.2  In  the  land  of 
Karoy,  with  which  the  reader  is  now  acquainted  as  the  region 
about  Napata,  he  collected  great  quantities  of  gold  for  his 
Theban  buildings,3  and  at  Kebehu-Hor,  or  "the  Pool  of 
Horus, ' '  he  erected  his  tablet  of  victory,4  but  we  are  unable 
to  locate  the  place  with  certainty.  It  was  certainly  not 
essentially  in  advance  of  the  frontier  of  his  father.  This  was 
the  last  great  invasion  of  Nubia  by  the  Pharaohs.  It  was 
constantly  necessary  to  punish  the  outlying  tribes  for  their 
incessant  predatory  incursions  into  the  Nile  valley;  but  the 
valley  itself,  as  far  as  the  fourth  cataract,  was  completely 
subjugated,  and  as  far  as  the  second  cataract  largely  Egyp- 
tianized,  a  process  which  now  went  steadily  forward  until 
the  country  up  to  the  fourth  cataract  was  effectually  en- 
grafted with  Egyptian  civilization.  Egyptian  temples  had 
now  sprung  up  at  every  larger  town,  and  the  Egyptian  gods 
were  worshipped  therein;  the  Egyptian  arts  were  learned 
by  the  Nubian  craftsmen,  and  everywhere  the  rude  barbarism 
of  the  upper  Nile  was  receiving  the  stamp  of  Egyptian  cul- 
ture. Nevertheless  the  native  chieftains,  under  the  surveil- 
lance of  the  viceroy,  were  still  permitted  to  retain  their  titles 
and  honours,  and  doubtless  continued  to  enjoy  at  least  a 
nominal  share  in  the  government.  We  find  them  as  far 
north  as  Ibrim,5  which  had  marked  the  southern  limit  of 
Amenhotep  III  's  levy  of  negro  auxiliaries,  and  was  therefore 
probably  the  extreme  point  to  which  local  administration 
solely  by  Egyptian  officials  extended  southward.  The  annual 
landing  of  the  viceroy  at  Thebes,  bringing  the  yearly  tribute 
of  all  the  Nubian  lands,  was  now  a  long  established  custom. 6 


i  II,  850,  u.  n 
•II,  845. 


»II,  847-8. 
•II,  1037. 


3  II,  889. 
•II,  1035-41. 


332 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


In  Asia  Amenhotep  enjoyed  unchallenged  supremacy;  at 
the  court  of  Babylon  even,  his  suzerainty  in  Canaan,  as  they 
called  Syria-Palestine,  was  acknowledged;  and  when  the 
dynasts  attempted  to  involve  Kurigalzu,  king  of  Babylon, 
in  an  alliance  with  them  against  the  Pharaoh,  he  wrote  them 
an  unqualified  refusal,  stating  that  he  was  in  alliance  with 
the  Pharaoh,  and  even  threatened  them  with  hostilities  if 
they  formed  a  hostile  alliance  against  Egypt.1  At  least  this 
is  the  Babylonian  version  of  the  affair  and  whether  true 
or  not,  it  shows  Babylon's  earnest  desire  to  stand  well  with 
the  Pharaoh.  All  the  powers:  Babylonia,  Assyria,  Mitanni 
and  Alasa-Cyprus,  were  exerting  every  effort  to  gain  the 
friendship  of  Egypt.  A  scene  of  world  politics,  such  as  is 
unknown  before  in  history,  now  unfolds  before  us.  From 
the  Pharaoh's  court  as  the  centre  radiate  a  host  of  lines  of 
communication  with  all  the  great  peoples  of  the  age.  The 
Tell  el-Amarna  letters  (Fig.  123),  perhaps  the  most  interest- 
ing mass  of  documents  surviving  from  the  early  east,  have 
preserved  to  us  this  glimpse  across  the  kingdoms  of  hither 
Asia  as  one  might  see  them  on  a  stage,  each  king  playing  his 
part  before  the  great  throne  of  the  Pharaoh.  The  letters, 
some  three  hundred  in  number,  are  written  on  clay  tablets 
in  the  Babylonian  cuneiform,  and  were  discovered  in  1888 
at  the  capital  city  of  Amenhotep  Ill's  son,  Ikhnaton,  the 
place  known  in  modern  times  as  Tell  el-Amarna,  from  which 
the  correspondence  takes  its  name.  They  date  from  the 
reign  of  Amenhotep  III  and  that  of  his  son  and  successor, 
Amenhotep  IV,  or  Ikhnaton,  being  correspondence  of  a 
strictly  official  character  between  these  Pharaohs  on  the  one 
hand,  and  on  the  other  the  kings  of  Babylonia,  Nineveh, 
Mitanni,  Alasa  (Cyprus)  and  the  Pharaoh's  vassal  kings 
of  Syria-Palestine.  Five  letters2  survive  from  the  corre- 
spondence of  Amenhotep  III  with  Kallimma-Sin  (Kadash- 
man-Bel),  king  of  Babylonia,  one  from  the  Pharaoh  and  the 
others  from  Kallimma-Sin.  The  Babylonian  king  is  con- 
stantly in  need  of  gold  and  insistently  importunates  his 

i  Amarna  Letters,  7.  *  Amarna  Letters,  1-5. 


THE  EMPIRE 


333 


brother  of  Egypt  to  send  him  large  quantities  of  the  precious 
metal,  which  he  says  is  as  plentiful  as  dust  in  Egypt  accord- 
ing to  the  reports  of  the  Babylonian  messengers.  Consid- 
erable friction  results  from  the  dissatisfaction  of  Kallimma- 
Sin  at  the  amounts  with  which  Amenhotep  favours  him.  He 
refers  to  the  fact  that  Amenhotep  had  received  from  his 
father  a  daughter  in  marriage,  and  makes  this  relationship 
a  reason  for  further  gifts  of  gold.  As  the  correspondence 
goes  on  another  marriage  is  negotiated  between  a  daughter 
of  Amenhotep  and  Kallimma-Sin  or  his  son.  Similarly 
Amenhotep  enjoys  the  most  intimate  connection  with  Shut- 
tarna,  the  king  of  Mitanni,  the  son  of  Artatama,  with  whom 
his  father,  Thutmose  IV,  had  enjoyed  the  most  cordial  rela- 
tions. Indeed  Amenhotep  was  perhaps  the  nephew  of  Shut- 
tarna,  from  whom  he  now  received  a  daughter,  named 
Gilukhipa,  in  marriage.  In  celebration  of  this  union  Amen- 
hotep issued  a  series  of  scarab-beetles  of  stone  bearing  an 
inscription  commemorating  the  event,  and  stating  that  the 
princess  brought  with  her  a  train  of  three  hundred  and 
seventeen  ladies  and  attendants.1  This  occurred  in  Amen- 
hotep's  tenth  year.  On  the  death  of  Shuttarna  the  alliance 
was  continued  under  his  son,  Dushratta,  from  whom  Amen- 
hotep later  received,  as  a  wife  for  his  son  and  successor,  a 
second  Mitannian  princess,  Tadukhipa,  the  daughter  of 
Dushratta.  The  correspondence  between  the  two  kings  is 
very  illuminating  and  may  serve  as  an  example  of  such  com- 
munications. The  following  is  a  letter2  of  Dushratta  to  his 
Egyptian  ally: 

"To  Nimmuria,  the  great  king,  the  king  of  Egypt,  my 
brother,  my  son-in-law,  who  loves  me,  and  whom  I  love:  — 
Dushratta,  the  great  king,  thy  father-in-law,  who  loves  thee, 
the  king  of  Mitanni,  thy  brother.  It  is  well  with  me.  With 
thee  may  it  be  well,  with  thy  house,  my  sister  and  thy  other 
wives,  thy  sons,  thy  chariots,  thy  horses,  thy  chief  men, 
thy  land,  and  all  thy  possessions,  may  it  be  very  well 
indeed.     In  the  time  of  thy  fathers,  they  were  on  very 


*  II,  866-7. 


2  Amarna  Letters,  17. 


334 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


friendly  terms  with  my  fathers,  but  thou  hast  increased 
[this  friendship]  still  more  and  with  my  father  thou  hast 
been  on  very  friendly  terms  indeed.  Now,  therefore,  since 
thou  and  I  are  on  mutually  friendly  terms,  thou  hast  made 
it  ten  times  closer  than  with  my  father.  May  the  gods  cause 
this  friendship  of  ours  to  prosper.  May  Tishub  [the  god 
of  Mitanni],  the  lord,  and  Amon  eternally  ordain  it  as  it 
is  now." 

"Inasmuch  as  my  brother  sent  his  messenger,  Mani, 
saying:  'My  brother,  send  me  thy  daughter  for  my  wife,  to 
be  queen  of  Egypt, ' 1  did  not  grieve  the  heart  of  my  brother, 
and  I  continually  ordered  what  was  friendly.  And  as  my 
brother  wished,  I  presented  her  to  Mani.  And  he  beheld  her 
and  when  he  saw  her,  he  rejoiced  greatly;  and  when  he 
brings  her  safely  to  my  brother 's  land,  then  may  Ishtar  and 
Amon  make  her  correspond  to  my  brother 's  wish. ' ' 

"Gilia,  my  messenger,  has  brought  to  me  my  brother's 
message ;  when  I  heard  it,  it  seeemed  to  me  very  good,  and 
I  was  very  glad  indeed  and  said :  '  So  far  as  I  am  concerned, 
even  if  all  the  friendly  relation  which  we  have  had  with  one 
another  had  ceased,  nevertheless,  on  account  of  this  message, 
we  would  forever  continue  friendly.'  Now  when  I  wrote 
my  brother  I  said : 6  So  far  as  I  am  concerned,  we  will  be  very 
friendly  indeed,  and  mutually  well  disposed';  and  I  said  to 
my  brother:  'Let  my  brother  make  [our  friendship]  ten  times 
greater  than  with  my  father,'  and  I  asked  of  my  brother  a 
great  deal  of  gold,  saying:  'More  than  to  my  father  let  my 
brother  give  me  and  send  me.  Thou  sentest  my  father  a 
great  deal  of  gold :  a  namkhar  of  pure  ( 1 )  gold,  and  a  kiru 
of  pure  ( ? )  gold,  thou  sentest  him ;  but  thou  sentest  me 
[only]  a  tablet  of  gold  that  is  as  if  it  were  alloyed  with 
copper.  ...  So  let  my  brother  send  gold  in  very  great  quan- 
tity, without  measure,  and  let  him  send  more  gold  to  me  than 
to  my  father.  For  in  my  brother 's  land  gold  is  as  common 
dust  .  .  .  . " 

In  this  rein  the  men  who  were  now  shaping  the  destinies 
of  all  hither  Asia  wrote  to  one  another.    In  response  to  sim- 


THE  EMPIRE 


335 


ilar  entreaties,  Amenhotep  sent  a  gift  of  twenty  talents  of 
gold  to  the  king  of  Assyria,1  and  gained  his  friendship  also. 
The  vassalship  of  the  king  of  Alasa-Cypms  continued,  and 
he  regularly  sent  the  Pharaoh  large  quantities  of  copper, 
save  when  on  one  occasion  he  excuses  himself  because  his 
country  had  been  visited  by  a  pestilence.  So  complete  was 
the  understanding  between  Egypt  and  Cyprus  that  even  the 
extradition  of  the  property  of  a  citizen  of  Cyprus  who  had 
died  in  Egypt  was  regarded  by  the  two  kings  as  a  matter  of 
course,  and  a  messenger  was  sent  to  Egypt  to  receive  the 
property  and  bring  it  back  to  Cyprus  for  delivery  to  the  wife 
and  son  of  the  deceased.2  Desirous  of  holding  the  first 
place  with  Egypt,  the  island  king  even  ventures  to  advise  the 
Pharaoh  against  any  alliance  with  Kheta  or  Babylonia,  a 
policy  which  we  shall  later  find  practiced  by  Babylonia 
herself. 

Thus  courted  and  flattered,  the  object  of  diplomatic  atten- 
tion from  all  the  great  powers,  Ainenhotep  found  little  occa- 
sion for  anxiety  regarding  his  Asiatic  empire.  The  Syrian 
vassals  were  now  the  grandsons  of  the  men  whom  Thutmose 
III  had  conquered;  they  had  grown  thoroughly  habituated 
to  the  Egyptian  allegiance.  The  time  was  so  far  past  when 
they  had  enjoyed  independence  that  they  knew  no  other  con- 
dition than  that  of  vassals  of  Egypt.  In  an  age  of  turbu- 
lence and  aggression,  where  might  was  the  only  appeal,  it 
finally  seemed  to  them  the  natural  condition  of  things  and  it 
was  not  without  its  advantages  in  rendering  them  free  from 
all  apprehension  of  attack  from  without.  An  Egyptian  edu- 
cation at  the  Pharaoh's  capital  had,  moreover,  made  him 
many  a  loyal  servant  among  the  children  of  the  dynasts, 
who  had  succeeded  disloyal  or  lukewarm  fathers  in  Syria. 
They  protest  their  fidelity  to  the  Pharaoh  on  all  occasions. 
Thus  the  prince  Akizzi  of  Katna  writes  to  Amenhotep:  1  'My 
lord,  here  in  this  place  I  am  thy  servant.  I  am  pursuing  the 
way  of  my  lord,  and  from  my  lord  I  do  not  depart.  Since 
my  fathers  became  thy  servants  this  land  has  been  thy  land, 


i  Amarna  Letters,  23,  30  ff. 


2  Amarna  Letters,  25,  30  ff. 


336 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


the  city  of  Katna  thy  city,  and  I  am  my  lord's.  My  lord, 
if  the  troops  and  chariots  of  my  lord  came,  food,  drink,  cattle, 
sheep,  honey  and  oil  were  brought  for  the  king's  troops  and 
chariots. ' ' 1  Such  letters  were  introduced  by  the  most  abject 
and  self-abasing  adulation;  the  writer  says:  ' ' To  my  lord, 
the  king,  my  gods,  my  sun :  Abimilki,  thy  servant.  Seven  and 
seven  times  at  the  feet  of  my  lord  I  fall.  I  am  the  dust  under 
the  sandals  of  my  lord,  the  king.  My  lord  is  the  sun  which 
rises  over  the  lands  every  day,  etc. ' '  ;2  the  vassals  fall  down 
before  the  Pharaoh  not  only  seven  times  but  also  *  1  on  breast 
and  back"  (see  Fig.  147).  They  are  "the  ground  upon 
which  thou  treadest,  the  throne  upon  which  thou  sittest,  the 
foot-stool  of  thy  feet ' ' ;  even  t '  thy  dog 9 ' ;  and  one  is  pleased 
to  call  himself  the  groom  of  the  Pharaoh's  horse.  They 
have  all  been  installed  by  the  Pharaoh's  grace,  and  he  sends 
oil  to  anoint  them  at  accession  to  office.  They  inform  the 
court  at  the  first  sign  of  disloyalty  among  their  fellows  and 
are  even  commissioned  to  proceed  against  rebellious  princes. 
Throughout  the  land  in  the  larger  cities  are  garrisons  of 
Egyptian  troops,  consisting  of  infantry  and  chariotry.  But 
they  are  no  longer  solely  native  Egyptians,  but  to  a  large 
extent  Nubians  and  Sherden,  roving,  predatory  bands  of 
sea-robbers,  perhaps  the  ancestors  of  the  historical  Sardin- 
ians. From  now  on  they  took  service  in  the  Egyptian  army 
in  ever  larger  and  larger  numbers.  These  forces  of  the 
Pharaoh  were  maintained  by  the  dynasts  and  one  of  their 
self-applied  tests  of  loyalty  in  writing  to  the  Pharaoh  was, 
as  we  have  seen  above,  their  readiness  and  faithfulness  in 
furnishing  supplies.  Syria  thus  enjoyed  a  stability  of  gov- 
ernment which  had  never  before  been  hers.  The  roads  were 
safe  from  robbers,  caravans  were  convoyed  from  vassal  to 
vassal,  and  a  word  from  the  Pharaoh  was  sufficient  to  bring 
any  of  his  subject-princes  to  his  knees.  The  payment  of 
tribute  was  as  regular  as  the  collection  of  taxes  in  Egypt 
itself.  But  in  case  of  any  delay  a  represensative  of  the 
Pharaoh,  who  was  stationed  in  the  various  larger  towns, 

«  Ibid.,  138,  4-13.  2  ibid.,  149,  1-7. 


THE  EMPIRE 


337 


needed  but  to  appear  in  the  delinquent's  vicinity  to  recall 
the  unfulfilled  obligation.  Amenhotep  himself  was  never 
obliged  to  carry  on  a  war  in  Asia.  On  one  occasion  he  ap- 
peared at  Sidon,  and  one  of  his  officials  mentions  prisoners 
taken  by  his  majesty  on  the  battlefield,1  but  this  may  refer 
to  the  Nubian  campaign.  It  was  deemed  sufficient,  as  we 
shall  later  see,  to  send  troops  under  the  command  of  an 
efficient  officer,  who  found  no  difficulty  in  coping  with  the 
situation  for  a  generation  after  Amenhotep 's  accession. 
Thus  one  of  the  vassal  princes  later  wrote  to  Amenhotep 's 
son:  " Verily,  thy  father  did  not  march  forth,  nor  inspect  the 
lands  of  his  vassal  princes."2 

Under  such  circumstances  Amenhotep  was  at  leisure  to 
devote  himself  to  those  enterprises  of  peace  which  have  occu- 
pied all  emperors  under  similar  conditions.  Trade  now 
developed  as  never  before.  The  Nile,  from  the  Delta  to  the 
cataracts,  was  alive  with  the  freight  of  all  the  world,  which 
flowed  into  it  from  the  Red  Sea  fleets  and  from  long  caravans 
passing  back  and  forth  through  the  Isthmus  of  Suez,  bearing 
the  rich  stuffs  of  Syria,  the  spices  and  aromatic  woods  of 
the  East,  the  weapons  and  chased  vessels  of  the  Phoenicians, 
and  a  myriad  of  other  things,  which  brought  their  Semitic 
names  into  the  hieroglyphic  and  their  use  into  the  life  of  the 
Nile-dwellers.  Parallel  with  the  land  traffic  through  the 
isthmus  were  the  routes  of  commerce  on  the  Mediterranean, 
thickly  dotted  with  the  richly  laden  galleys  of  Phoenicia,  con- 
verging upon  the  Delta  from  all  quarters  and  bringing  to  the 
markets  of  the  Nile  the  decorated  vessels  or  damascened 
bronzes  from  the  Mycenaean  industrial  settlements  of  the 
^Egean.  The  products  of  Egyptian  industry  were  likewise  in 
use  in  the  palace  of  the  sea-kings  of  Cnossos,  in  Rhodes,  and 
in  Cyprus,  where  a  number  of  Egyptian  monuments  of  this 
age  have  been  found.  Scarabs  and  bits  of  glazed  ware  with 
the  name  of  Amenhotep  III  or  queen  Tiy  have  also  been  dis- 
covered on  th  mainland  of  Greece  at  Mycenae.  The  northern 
Mediterranean  peoples  were  feeling  the  impact  of  Egyptian 

J  II,  916,  918.  ?  Amarna  Letters,  87,  G2-64. 

22 


338 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


civilization  now  appearing  in  the  north  with  more  insistent 
force  than  ever  before.  In  Crete  Egyptian  religious  forms 
had  been  introduced,  in  one  case  under  the  personal  leader- 
ship of  an  Egyptian  priest  (Fig.  127).  Mycenaean  artists 
were  powerfully  influenced  by  the  incoming  products  of 
Egypt.  Egyptian  landscapes  appear  in  their  metal  work,  and 
the  lithe  animal  forms  in  instantaneous  postures  which  were 
caught  by  the  pencil  of  the  Theban  artists  were  now  common 
in  Mycenae.  The  superb  decorated  ceilings  of  Thebes  like- 
wise appear  in  the  tombs  of  Mycenae  and  Orchomenos.  Even 
the  pre-Greek  writing  of  Crete  shows  traces  of  the  influence 
of  the  hieroglyphics  of  the  Nile.  The  men  of  the  Mycenaean 
world,  the  Keftyew,  who  brought  these  things  to  their  coun- 
trymen, were  now  a  familiar  sight  upon  the  streets  of  Thebes, 
where  the  wares  which  they  offered  were  also  modifying  the 
art  of  Egypt.  The  plentiful  silver  of  the  north  now  came 
in  with  the  northern  strangers  in  great  quantities,  and, 
although  under  the  Hyksos  the  baser  metal  had  been  worth 
twice  as  much  as  gold,  the  latter  now  and  permanently 
became  the  more  valuable  medium.  The  ratio  was  now 
about  one  and  two  thirds  to  one,  and  the  value  of  silver 
steadily  fell  until  Ptolemaic  times  (third  century  B.  C.  on), 
when  the  ratio  was  twelve  to  one. 

Such  trade  required  protection  and  regulation.  Roving 
bands  of  Lycian  pirates  infested  the  coasts  of  the  eastern 
Mediterranean ;  they  boldly  entered  the  harbours  of  Cyprus 
and  plundered  the  towns,  and  even  landed  on  the  coast  of 
the  Delta.1  Amenhotep  was  therefore  obliged  to  develop  a 
marine  police  which  patroled  the  coast  of  the  Delta  and  con- 
stantly held  the  mouths  of  the  river  closed  against  all  but 
lawful  comers.  Custom  houses  were  also  maintained  by 
these  police  officials  at  the  same  places,  and  all  merchandise 
not  consigned  to  the  king  was  dutiable.2  The  income  from 
this  source  must  have  been  very  large,  but  we  have  no  means 
of  estimating  it.  All  the  land-routes  leading  into  the  country 
were  similarly  policed,  and  foreigners  who  could  not  satis- 

1  Amarna  Letters,  28.    UI,  916,  11.  33-4.    Amarna  Letters,  29;  32;  33. 


THE  EMPIRE 


339 


factorily  explain  their  business  were  turned  back,  while 
legitimate  trade  was  encouraged,  protected  and  properly 
taxed. 

The  influx  of  slaves,  chiefly  of  Semitic  race,  which  had 
begun  under  Thutmose  III,  still  continued,  and  the  king's 
chief  scribe  distributed  them  throughout  the  land  and  en- 
rolled them  among  the  tax-paying  serfs.2  As  this  host  of 
foreigners  intermarried  with  the  natives,  the  large  infusion 
of  strange  blood  began  to  make  itself  felt  in  a  new  and  com- 
posite type  of  face,  if  we  may  trust  the  artists  of  the  day. 
The  incalculable  wealth  which  had  now  been  converging 
upon  the  coffers  of  the  Pharaoh  for  over  a  century  also  began 
to  exert  a  profound  influence,  which,  as  under  like  conditions, 
in  later  history,  was  far  from  wholesome.  On  New  Year's 
Day  the  king  presented  his  nobles  with  a  profusion  of  costly 
gifts  Which  would  have  amazed  the  Pharaohs  of  the  pyra- 
mid-age. On  one  such  occasion  the  chief  treasurer  carried 
in  before  the  monarch  "chariots  of  silver  and  gold,  statues 
of  ivory  and  ebony,  necklaces  of  every  costly  stone,  weapons 
of  warfare,  and  work  of  all  craftsmen."  They  included 
thirteen  statues  of  the  king,  seven  sphinx  portraits  of  the 
monarch,  eight  superb  necklaces,  six  hundred  and  eighty 
richly  wrought  shields  and  two  hundred  and  thirty  quivers 
of  the  same  workmanship,  three  hundred  and  sixty  bronze 
swords  and  one  hundred  and  forty  bronze  daggers,  both 
damascened  with  precious  metal,  thirty  ebony  staves  tipped 
with  silver  and  gold,  two  hundred  and  twenty  ivory  and 
ebony  whips,  seven  elaborately  wrought  chests,  many  sun- 
shades, chairs,  vases  and  innumerable  small  objects.3  In 
the  old  days  the  monarch  rewarded  a  faithful  noble  with 
land,  which,  in  order  to  pay  a  return,  must  be  properly  cul- 
tivated and  administered,  thus  fostering  simplicity  and 
wholesome  country  virtues  on  a  large  domain;  but  the 
favourite  now  received  convertible  wealth,  which  required 
no  administration  to  be  utilized.  The  luxury  and  display  of 
the  metropolis  supplanted  the  old  rustic  simplicity  and 

1 II,  916,  11.  32-3.  2  Ibid.,  11.  31,  36.  3  n,  801  ff. 


340 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


sturdy  elemental  virtues.  From  the  Pharaoh  down  to  the 
humblest  scribe  this  change  was  evident,  if  in  nothing  else 
than  the  externals  of  costume ;  for  the  simple  linen  kilt  from 
the  hips  to  the  knees,  which  once  satisfied  all,  not  excluding 
the  king,  has  now  given  way  to  an  elaborate  costume,  with 
long  plaited  skirt,  a  rich  tunic  with  full  flowing  sleeves ;  the 
unpretentious  head-dress  of  the  old  time  has  been  replaced 
by  an  elaborately  curled  wig  hanging  down  upon  the  shoul- 
ders; while  the  once  bare  feet  are  shod  in  elegant  sandals, 
with  tapering  toes  curled  up  at  the  tips.    A  noble  of  the 

landed  class  from  the 
court  of  the  Amenem- 
hets  or  the  Sesostrises, 
could  he  have  walked 
the  streets  of  Thebes  in 
Amenhotep  III 's  day, 
would  almost  have  been 
at  a  loss  to  know  in 
what  country  he  had 
suddenly  found  himself ; 
while  his  own  antiqua- 
ted costume,  which  had 
survived  only  among  the  priests,  would  have  awakened  equal 
astonishment  among  the  fashionable  Thebans  of  the  day.  He 
would  not  have  felt  less  strange  than  a  noble  of  Elizabeth's 
reign  upon  the  streets  of  modern  London.  All  about  him  he 
would  have  found  elegant  chateaus  and  luxurious  villas,  with 
charming  gardens  and  summer-houses  grouped  about  vast 
temples,  such  as  the  Nile-dweller  had  never  seen  before. 

The  wealth  and  the  captive  labour  of  Asia  and  Nubia  were 
being  rapidly  transmuted  into  noble  architecture,  and  at 
Thebes  a  new  and  fundamental  chapter  in  the  history  of 
the  world's  architecture  was  being  daily  written.  Amen- 
hotep gave  himself  with  appreciation  and  enthusiasm  to  such 
works,  and  placed  at  the  disposal  of  his  architects  all  the 
resources  which  they  needed  for  an  ampler  practice  of  their 


Fig.  124.    Costumes  of  the  Empire. 


THE  EMPIRE 


341 


art  than  had  ever  before  been  possible.  There  were  among 
them  men  of  the  highest  gifts,  and  one  of  them,  who  bore  the 
same  name  as  the  king,  gained  such  a  wide  reputation  for 
his  wisdom  that  his  sayings  circulated  in  Greek  some  twelve 
hundred  years  later  among  the  "Proverbs  of  the  Seven  Wise 
Men ' ' ;  and  in  Ptolemaic  times  he  was  finally  worshipped  as 
a  god,  and  took  his  place  among  the  innumerable  deities  of 
Egypt  as  ' '  Amenhotep,  son  of  Hapu. ' 91 

Under  the  fingers  of  such  men  as  these  the  old  and  tradi- 
tional elements  of  Egyptian  building  were  imbued  with  new 
life  and  combined  into  new  forms  in  which  they  took  on  a 
wondrous  beauty  unknown  before.  Besides  this,  the  unpre- 
cedented resources  of  wealth  and  labour  at  the  command  of 


Fig.  125.    The  Periptebal  Cella-Temple. 

Built  by  Amenhotep  III  on  the  Island  of  Elephantine.  It  was  destroyed 
for  building  material  by  the  Turkish  governor  of  Assuan  in  1822.  (After  the 
'Description"  by  Napoleon's  Expedition.) 


such  an  architect  enabled  him  to  deal  with  such  vast  dimen- 
sions that  the  element  of  size  alone  must  have  rendered  his 
buildings  in  the  highest  degree  impressive.  But  of  the  two 
forms  of  temple  which  now  developed,  the  smaller  is  not  less 

1  II,  911, 


342 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


effective  than  the  larger.  It  was  a  simple  rectangular  cella 
or  holy  of  holies,  thirty  or  forty  feet  long  and  fourteen  feet 
high,  with  a  door  at  each  end,  surrounded  by  a  portico,  the 
whole  being  raised  upon  a  base  of  about  half  the  height  of 
the  temple  walls.  With  the  door  looking  out  between  two 
graceful  columns,  and  the  facade  happily  set  in  the  retreat- 
ing vistas  of  the  side  colonnades,  the  whole  is  so  exquisitely 
proportioned  that  the  trained  eye  immediately  recognizes  the 
hand  of  a  master  who  appreciated  the  full  value  of  simple 
fundamental  lines.  Little  wonder  that  the  architects  of 
Napoleon's  expedition  who  brought  it  to  the  notice  of  the 
modern  world  were  charmed  with  it,  and  thought  that  they 
had  discovered  in  it  the  origin  of  the  Greek  peripteral  tem- 
ple ;  nor  can  there  indeed  be  any  doubt  that  the  architecture 
of  Greece  was  influenced  by  this  form.    The  other  and  larger 


Fig.  126.    Perspective  and  Section  of  a  Typical  Pylon  Temple  of  the 


Empire. 

The  nearer  half,  with  its  Pylon-Tower,  has  been  cut  away  to  expose  the 
arrangement  of  the  interior.     Compare  with  description  on  p.  343.  (After 

Perrot-Chipiez.) 

type  of  temple,  which  now  found  its  highest  development, 
differs  strikingly  from  the  one  just  discussed ;  and  perhaps 
most  fundamentally  in  the  fact  that  its  colonnades  are  all 
within  and  not  visible  from  the  outside.  The  holy  of  holies, 
as  of  old,  is  surrounded  by  a  series  of  chambers,  now  larger 


CRETE. 

In  the  middle  of  a  festal  procession  an  Egyptian  priest,  with  upraised  sistrum, 
leads  singing  Cretan  youths.    Eighteenth  Century  B.  C. 


Fig.  128.— AMENHOTEP  HI'S  COURT  OF  CLUSTERED  PAPYRUS  BUD  COLUMNS. 

Luxor  Temple. 


THE  EMPIRE 


343 


than  before,  as  rendered  necessary  by  the  rich  and  elaborate 
ritual  which  had  arisen.  Before  it  is  a  large  colonnaded  hall, 
often  called  the  hypostyle,  while  in  front  of  this  hall  lies  an 
extensive  forecourt  surrounded  by  a  columned  portico.  In 
front  of  this  court  rise  two  towers  (together  called  a 
' ' pylon"),  which  form  the  facade  of  the  temple.  Their 
walls  incline  inward,  they  are  crowned  by  a  hollow  cornice 
and  the  great  door  of  the  temple  opens  between  them.  While 
the  masonry,  which  is  of  sandstone  or  limestone,  does  not 
usually  contain  large  blocks,  huge  architraves,  thirty  or  forty 
feet  long  and  weighing  one  or  two  hundred  tons,  are  not 
unknown.  Nearly  all  the  surfaces  except  those  on  the  col- 
umns are  carved  with  reliefs,  the  outside  showing  the  king 
in  battle,  while  on  the  inside  he  appears  in  the  worship  of 
the  gods,  and  all  surfaces  with  slight  exception  were  highly 
coloured.  Before  the  vast  double  doors  of  cedar  of  Lebanon 
mounted  in  bronze,  rose,  one  on  either  side,  a  pair  of  obelisks, 
towering  high  above  the  pylon-towers,  while  colossal  statues 
of  the  king,  each  hewn  from  a  single  block,  were  placed  with 
backs  to  the  pylon,  on  either  side  of  the  door.  In  the  use 
of  these  elements  and  this  general  arrangement  of  the  parts, 
already  common  before  Amenhotep's  reign,  his  architects 
created  a  radically  new  type,  destined  to  survive  in  frequent 
use  to  this  day  as  one  of  the  noblest  forms  of  architecture. 

At  Luxor,  the  old  southern  suburb  of  Thebes,  which  had 
now  grown  into  the  city,  there  was  a  small  temple  to  Amon, 
built  by  the  kings  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty.  Amenhotep  had, 
probably  early  in  his  reign,  pulled  it  down  and  built  a  new 
sanctuary  with  surrounding  chambers  and  a  hall  before  it, 
like  that  of  Thutmose  I  at  Karnak.  To  this  his  architects 
had  laid  out  in  front  a  superb  forecourt  (Fig.  128),  with  the 
finest  colonnades  now  surviving  in  Egypt.  Gaining  confi- 
dence, they  determined  to  erect  in  front  of  all  this  a  new 
and  more  ambitious  hall  than  had  ever  been  attempted  before, 
to  be  preceded  in  all  probability  by  a  still  larger  court.  The 
great  hall  was  laid  out  with  a  row  of  gigantic  columns  on 
either  side  the  central  axis,  quite  surpassing  in  height  any 


344 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


pier  ever  before  employed  by  the  Egyptian  (Fig.  130).  Nor 
were  they  less  beautiful  for  their  great  size,  being  in  every 
respect  masterpieces  of  exquisite  proportion,  with  capitals 
of  the  graceful,  spreading  papyrus-flower  type  (Fig.  130). 
These  columns  were  higher  than  those  ranged  on  both  sides 
of  the  middle,  thus  producing  a  higher  roof  over  a  central 
aisle  or  nave  and  a  lower  roof  over  the  side  aisles,  the  differ- 
ence in  level  being  filled  with  grated  stone  windows  in  a 
clear-story.  Thus  were  produced  the  fundamental  elements 
in  basilica  and  cathedral  architecture,  which  we  owe  to  the 
Theban  architects  of  Amenhotep  III.  Unfortunately  the 
vast  hall  was  unfinished  at  the  death  of  the  king,  and  his 
son  was  too  ardent  an  enemy  of  Amon  to  carry  out  the 
work  of  his  father.  His  later  successors  walled  up  the  mag- 
nificent nave  with  drums  from  the  columns  of  the  side  aisles 
which  were  never  set  up,  and  the  whole  stands  to-day  a 
mournful  wreck  of  an  unfinished  work  of  art,  the  first 
example  of  a  type  for  which  the  world  cannot  be  too  grateful. 

Amenhotep  now  proceeded  to  give  the  great  buildings  of 
the  city  a  unity  which  they  had  not  before  possessed.  He 
raised  a  massive  pylon  before  the  temple  of  Karnak,  adorned 
with  unsurpassed  richness ;  stelas  of  lapis-lazuli  were  set  up 
on  either  side  and  besides  great  quantities  of  gold  and  silver, 
nearly  twelve  hundred  pounds  of  malachite  were  employed 
in  the  inlay  work.1  From  the  river  an  avenue  led  up  to  it 
between  two  tall  obelisks,2  and  before  it  his  architect,  Amen- 
hotep, set  up  for  him  his  portrait  colossus,  the  largest  thus 
far  erected,  having  been  hewn  from  a  single  block  of  tough 
gritstone  sixty  seven  feet  long,  brought  up  the  river  from  the 
quarry  near  modern  Cairo  by  an  army  of  men.3  The  king 
also  built  a  temple  to  Mut,  the  goddess  of  Thebes,  where  his 
ancestors  had  begun  it,  on  the  south  of  Karnak,  and  exca- 
vated a  lake  beside  it.  He  then  laid  out  a  beautiful  garden 
in  the  interval  of  over  a  mile  and  a  half,  which  separates 
the  Karnak  from  the  Luxor  temple  and  connected  the  great 
temples  by  avenues  of  rams  (Figs.  4;  129)  carved  in  stone, 

1  II,  903.  2  11,  903,  1.57.  all,  917. 


THE  EMPIRE 


345 


each  bearing  a  statue  of  the  Pharaoh  between  the  forepaws. 
The  general  effect  must  have  been  imposing  in  the  extreme ; 
the  brilliant  hues  of  the  polychrome  architecture,  with  col- 
umns and  gates  overwrought  in  gold  and  floors  overlaid  with 
silver,  the  whole  dominated  by  towering  obelisks  clothed  in 
glittering  metal,  rising  high  above  the  rich  green  of  the 
nodding  palms  and  tropical  foliage  which  framed  the  mass,— 
all  this  must  have  produced  an  impression  both  of  gorgeous 
detail  and  overwhelming  grandeur,  of  which  the  sombre 
ruins  of  the  same  buildings,  impressive  as  they  are,  offer 
little  hint  at  the  present  day.  As  at  Athens  in  the  days  of 
her  glory,  the  state  was  fortunate  in  the  possession  of  men 
of  sensitive  and  creative  mind,  upon  whose  quick  imagina- 
tion her  greatness  had  profoundly  wrought,  until  they  were 
able  to  embody  her  external  manifestations  in  forms  of 
beauty,  dignity  and  splendour.  Thebes  was  now  rapidly 
becoming  a  worthy  seat  of  empire,  the  first  monumental  city 
of  antiquity.  Nor  did  the  western  plain  on  the  other  side 
of  the  river,  behind  which  the  conquerors  slept,  suffer  by 
comparison  with  the  new  glories  of  Karnak  and  Luxor. 
Along  the  foot  of  the  rugged  cliffs,  from  the  modest  chapel 
of  Amenhotep  I  on  the  north,  there  stretched  southward  in 
an  imposing  line  the  mortuary  temples  of  the  emperors.  At 
the  south  end  of  this  line,  but  a  little  nearer  the  river,  Amen- 
hotep III  now  erected  his  own  mortuary  sanctuary,  the 
largest  temple  of  his  reign.  Two  gigantic  colossi  of  the 
king,  nearly  seventy  feet  high,  each  cut  from  one  block  and 
weighing  over  seven  hundred  tons,  besides  a  pair  of  obelisks, 
stood  before  the  pylon,  which  was  approached  from  the  river 
by  an  avenue  of  jackals  sculptured  in  stone.  Numerous 
other  great  statues  of  the  Pharaoh  were  ranged  about  the 
colonnades  of  the  court.  A  huge  stela1  of  sandstone  thirty 
feet  high,  inwrought  with  gold  and  encrusted  with  costly 
stones  marked  the  ceremonial  " Station  of  the  King,"  where 
Amenhotep  stood  in  performing  the  official  duties  of  the 
ritual;  another2  over  ten  feet  high  bore  a  record  of  all  his 


«  II,  904  ff. 


■  II,  878  ff. 


346 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


works  for  Amon,  while  the  walls  and  floors  of  the  temple, 
overlaid  with  gold  and  silver,  displayed  the  most  prodigal 
magnificence.  The  fine  taste  and  the  technical  skill  required 
for  such  supplementary  works  of  the  craftsman  were  now 
developed  to  a  point  of  classical  excellence,  beyond  which 
Egyptian  art  never  passed.  In  mere  mass  alone  some  of 
these  works  of  industrial  art  were  surprising,  for  the  bronze 
hinges  and  other  mountings  of  the  vast  cedar  pylon-doors 
weighed  together  some  tons,  and  required  castings  of  unprec- 
edented size ;  while  the  overlaying  of  such  doors  with  sheets 
of  bronze  exquisitely  damascened  in  precious  metal  with  the 
figure  of  the  god  demanded  a  combination  of  aesthetic  capac- 
ity with  mastery  of  ponderous  mechanics,  which  is  not  too 
common  even  at  the  present  day. 

Sculpture  also  flourished  under  such  circumstances  as 
never  before.  While  there  now  developed  an  attention  to 
details  which  required  infinite  patience  and  nicety,  such 
arduous  application  did  not  hamper  the  fine  feeling  of  which 
these  Eighteenth  Dynasty  sculptors  were  capable;  nor  was 
the  old  method  of  a  summary  rendering  of  main  lines  for- 
saken. There  appear  in  the  works  of  this  age  (Figs.  136-7, 
151)  a  refinement,  a  delicacy  and  a  flexibility  which  were 
heretofore  lacking,  even  in  the  best  works,  though  perhaps  the 
striking  individuality  of  the  Old  Kingdom  portraits  was  not 
so  noticeable.  These  qualities  were  carried  into  work  of 
such  ample  proportions  that  the  sculptor 's  command  of  them 
under  such  circumstances  is  surprising,  although  not  all  of 
the  colossal  portrait  statues  are  successful  in  these  particu- 
lars. Especially  in  relief  were  the  artists  of  this  age  mas- 
ters. In  the  accompanying  relief  (Fig.  132),  now  in  the 
Berlin  Museum,  study  the  abandoned  grief  of  the  two  sons 
of  the  High  Priest  of  Memphis  as  they  follow  their  father's 
body  to  the  tomb,  and  note  how  effectively  the  artist  has  con- 
trasted with  them  the  severe  gravity  and  conventional 
decorum  of  the  great  ministers  of  state  behind  them,  who 
themselves  are  again  in  striking  contrast  with  a  Beau  Brum- 
mel  of  that  day,  who  is  afTectatiously  arranging  the  per- 


THE  EMPIRE 


347 


fumed  curls  of  his  elaborate  wig.  The  man  of  whose  work  we 
have  here  a  mere  fragment  was  a  master  of  ripe  and  matured 
culture,  an  observer  of  life,  whose  work  exhibits  alike  the 
pathos  and  the  wistful  questioning  of  human  sorrow,  recog- 
nizing both  the  necessity  and  the  cruel  indifference  of  official 
conventionality,  and  seeing  amid  all  the  play  of  the  vain 
and  ostentatious  fashions  of  the  hour.  Here  across  thirty  five 
centuries  there  speaks  to  us  a  maturity  in  the  contemplation 
of  life  which  finds  a  sympathetic  response  in  every  cultivated 
observer.  This  fragmentary  sketch  not  merely  surpasses 
anything  to  be  found  among  any  other  early  oriental  people, 
but  belongs  to  a  class  of  work  totally  lacking  elsewhere  in 
this  age.  It  is  one  of  the  earliest  examples  of  sculpture 
exhibiting  that  interpretation  of  life  and  appreciation  of 
individual  traits  (often  supposed  to  have  arisen  first  among 
the  sculptors  of  Greece),  in  which  art  finds  its  highest 
expression. 

Now,  too,  the  Pharaoh's  deeds  of  prowess  inspired  the 
sculptors  of  the  time  to  more  elaborate  compositions  than 
had  ever  before  been  approached.  The  battle  scenes  on  the 
noble  chariot  of  Thutmose  IV  (Fig.  135)  exhibit  a  complexity 
in  drawing  unprecedented,  and  this  tendency  continues  in 
the  Nineteenth  Dynasty.  While  brute  life  does  not  afford 
opportunity  for  such  work  as  that  just  discussed,  the  per- 
fection attained  in  the  sculpture  of  animal  forms  by  the 
artists  of  this  time  marks  again  the  highest  level  of  achieve- 
ment attained  by  Egyptian  art,  and  Ruskin  has  even  insisted 
with  his  customary  conviction  that  the  two  lions  (Fig.  133) 
of  Amenhotep's  reign,  now  in  the  British  Museum,  are  the 
finest  embodiment  of  animal  majesty  which  has  survived  to 
us  from  any  ancient  people.  While  this  may  be  an  over 
enthusiastic  estimate  of  their  value,  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  these  noble  works  were  designed  as  the  adornment  of  a 
distant  provincial  sanctuary  at  Soleb  in  upper  Nubia.1  If 
such  work  as  this  beautified  the  courts  of  a  remote  Nubian 
temple,  what  may  we  not  imagine  were  the  sculptures  in  the 

i  II,  893,  896-7. 


348 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


mortuary  temple  of  the  Pharaoh  himself  at  Thebes  ?  But 
this  sumptuous  building,  probably  the  greatest  work  of  art 
ever  wrought  in  Egypt,  has  vanished  utterly.  Only  the  two 
weather-beaten  colossi  which  guarded  the  entrance  still  look 
out  across  the  plain  (Fig.  131),  one  of  them  still  bearing 
the  scribblings  in  Greek  of  curious  tourists  in  the  times  of  the 
Roman  Empire  who  came  to  hear  the  marvellous  voice  which 
issued  from  it  every  morning.  A  hundred  paces  behind  lies 
prostrate  and  shattered  in  two  the  vast  stela,  once  encrusted 
with  gold  and  costly  stones,  marking  the  "Station  of  the 
King,"  and  upon  it  one  may  still  read  the  words  of  Amen- 
hotep  regarding  the  temple:  "My  majesty  has  done  these 
things  for  millions  of  years,  and  I  know  that  they  will  abide 
in  the  earth."1  We  shall  later  have  occasion  to  observe 
how  this  regal  temple  fell  a  prey  to  the  impiety  of  Amen- 
hotep's  degenerate  descendants  within  two  hundred  years 
of  his  death.  Of  the  painting  of  the  time,  the  best  examples 
were  in  the  palaces,  and  these  being  of  wood  and  sun-dried 
brick,  have  perished,  but  a  fine  perception,  which  enabled 
the  artist  in  his  representation  of  animals  and  birds  to  depict 
instantaneous  postures  is  already  observable,  reaching  its 
highest  expression  in  the  next  reign.  More  elaborate  draw- 
ings than  any  known  in  earlier  times  were,  as  we  have  seen, 
demanded  by  the  Pharaoh  in  the  representation  of  his  battles, 
and  the  artist's  powers  of  composition  were  taxed  to  the 
utmost.  The  battle  scenes  on  the  temples  of  this  period  have 
perished,  but  that  they  existed  is  certain,  in  view  of  such  a 
composition  as  that  on  the  chariot  of  Thutmose  IV. 

Adorned  with  such  works  as  these,  the  western  plain  of 
Thebes  was  a  majestic  prospect  as  the  observer  advanced 
from  the  river,  ascending  Amenhotep's  avenue  of  sculptured 
jackals.  On  the  left,  behind  the  temple  and  nearer  the  cliffs, 
appeared  a  palace  of  the  king  of  woodern  architecture  in 
bright  colours ;  very  light  and  airy,  the  f acade  adorned  with 
flagstaves  bearing  tufts  of  parti-coloured  pennants,  and 
having  over  the  front  entrance  a  gorgeous  cushioned  balcony 

i  IT,  907. 


THE  EMPIRE 


349 


with  graceful  columns,  in  which  the  king  showed  himself  to 
his  favourites  on  occasion  (Fig.  139).  The  art  which  adorned 
such  a  palace  was  as  exquisite  in  its  refined  aesthetics  as  in  its 
technical  skill.  Innumerable  products  of  the  industrial  artist 
which  fill  the  museums  of  Europe  indicate  with  what  tem- 
pered richness  and  delicate  beauty  such  a  royal  chateau  was 
furnished  and  adorned.  Magnificent  vessels  in  gold  and 
silver  with  figures  of  men  and  animals,  plants  and  flowers 
rising  from  the  rim,  glittered  on  the  king's  table  among 
crystal  goblets,  glass  vases,  and  gray  porcelain  vessels  inlaid 
with  pale  blue  designs.  The  walls  were  covered  with  woven 
tapestry  of  workmanship  so  fine  and  colour  and  design  so 
exquisite  that  skilled  judges  have  declared  it  equal  to  the 
best  modern  work.  Besides  painted  pavements  (Fig.  138) 
depicting  animal  life,  the  walls  also  were  adorned  with  fine 
blue  glazed  tiles,  the  rich  colour  of  which  shone  through  elab- 
orate designs  in  brilliant  gold  leaf,  while  glazed  figures  were 
employed  in  encrusting  larger  surfaces.  All  this  was  done 
with  fine  and  intelligent  consideration  of  the  whole  colour 
scheme.  In  all  the  refined  arts  it  is  an  age  like  that  of  Louis 
XV,  and  the  palace  everywhere  reflects  the  spirit  of  the  age. 

Here  too  Amenhotep  laid  out  an  exclusive  quarter  which 
he  gave  to  his  queen,  Tiy.  He  excavated  a  large  lake  in  the 
enclosure  about  a  mile  long  and  over  a  thousand  feet  wide, 
and  at  the  celebration  of  his  coronation  anniversary  in  his 
twelfth  year,  he  opened  the  sluices  for  filling  it,  and  sailed 
out  upon  it  in  the  royal  barge  with  his  queen,  in  doubtless 
just  such  a  gorgeous  festival  " fantasia"  as  we  find  in  the 
"Arabian  Nights"  in  the  days  of  the  inevitable  Harun 
er-Rashid.  The  music  on  such  occasions  was  more  elaborate 
than  ever  before,  for  the  art  had  make  progress  since  the 
days  of  the  old  simplicity.  The  harp  was  now  a  huge  instru- 
ment as  tall  as  a  man,  and  had  some  twenty  strings ;  the  lyre 
had  been  introduced  from  Asia,  and  the  full  orchestra  now 
contained  the  harp,  the  lyre,  the  lute  and  the  double  pipes. 
As  a  souvenir  of  the  celebration  another  series  of  scarabs, 
or  beetle-amulets,  was  issued,  inscribed  with  a  brief  narra- 


350 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


tive  of  the  event.1  Such  festivals  were  now  common  in 
Thebes  and  enriched  the  life  of  the  fast  growing  metropolis 
with  a  kaleidoscopic  variety  which  may  be  only  compared 
with  similar  periods  in  Babylon  or  in  Rome  under  the  em- 
perors. The  religious  feasts  of  the  seventh  month  were 
celebrated  with  such  opulent  splendour  that  the  month 
quickly  gained  the  epithet,  1 ' That  of  Amenhotep,"  a  desig- 
nation which  clung  to  it  until  it  became  the  usual  name  for 
it  in  later  ages,  and  in  corrupt  form  it  still  survives  among 
the  natives  of  modern  Egypt,  who  employ  it  without  the 
faintest  knowledge  of  the  imperial  ruler,  their  ancestor, 
whose  name  is  perpetuated  in  it.  In  such  an  age  literature 
doubtless  throve,  but  chance  has  unfortunately  preserved  to 
us  little  of  the  literature  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty.  We 
have  heard  a  portion  of  the  triumphant  hymn  to  Thutmose 
III  and  we  shall  read  the  remarkable  sun-hymn  of  Ikhnaton ; 
but  of  narrative,  song  and  legend,  which  must  have  flour- 
ished from  the  rise  of  the  Empire,  our  surviving  documents 
date  almost  exclusively  from  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty. 

Among  the  king's  favourite  diversions  was  the  hunt,  which 
he  practiced  on  an  unprecedented  scale.  When  his  scouts 
brought  him  word  that  a  herd  of  wild  cattle  had  appeared 
among  the  hills  bordering  the  Delta,  he  would  leave  the 
palace  at  Memphis  in  the  evening,  sail  north  all  night  and 
reach  the  herd  in  the  early  morning.  A  numerous  body  of 
troops,  with  children  from  the  villages,  then  surrounded  the 
herd  and  drove  them  into  a  large  enclosure,  a  method  also 
employed  in  earlier  times.  On  one  occasion  his  beaters 
counted  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  seventy  wild  cattle  in 
the  enclosure.  Entering  it  in  his  chariot  the  king  himself  slew 
fifty  six  of  the  savage  beasts  on  the  first  day,  to  which  num- 
ber he  added  probably  twenty  more  at  a  second  onslaught, 
which  followed  after  four  days'  interval  of  rest.  Amenhotep 
thought  the  achievement  worthy  of  commemoration  and 
issued  a  series  of  scarabs  bearing  a  record  of  the  feat.2 
When  the  chase-loving  king  had  completed  ten  years  of  lion- 


i  II,  868-9. 


*  II,  863-4. 


THE  EMPIRE 


351 


hunting  he  distributed  to  the  nobles  of  the  court  a  similar 
memorial  of  his  prowess,  which,  after  the  usual  royal  titulary 
of  himself  and  his  queen,  bore  the  words:  ' ' Statement  of 
lions  which  his  majesty  brought  down  with  his  own  arrows 
from  the  year  one  to  the  year  ten :  fierce  lions,  102.M1  Some 
thirty  or  forty  of  these  scarabs  of  the  lion-hunt  still  survive. 

It  will  be  seen  that  in  these  things  a  new  and  modern  ten- 
dency was  coming  to  its  own.  The  divine  Pharaoh  is  con- 
stantly being  exhibited  in  human  relations,  the  affairs  of 
the  royal  house  are  made  public  property,  the  name  of  the 
queen,  not  even  a  woman  of  royal  birth,  is  constantly  appear- 
ing at  the  head  of  official  documents  side  by  side  with  that 
of  the  Pharaoh.  In  constant  intercourse  with  the  nations 
of  Asia  he  is  gradually  forced  from  his  old  superhuman 
state,  suited  only  to  the  Nile,  into  less  provincial  and  more 
modern  relations  with  his  neighbours  of  Babylon  and  Mi- 
tanni,  who  in  their  letters  call  him  "  brother/ '  This  lion- 
hunting,  bull-baiting  Pharaoh  is  far  indeed  from  the  godlike 
and  unapproachable  immobility  of  his  divine  ancestors.  It 
was  as  if  the  emperor  of  China  or  the  Dalailama  of  Thibet 
were  all  at  once  to  make  his  personal  doings  known  on  a  series 
of  medals!  To  be  sure,  Amenhotep  compromised  with  the 
traditions ;  he  built  a  temple  in  Memphis,2  where  he  was  wor- 
shipped and  enlarged  the  Nubian  temple  at  Soleb  also  for  his 
own  worship3  in  conjunction  with  that  of  Amon.  His  queen 
likewise  was  goddess  of  the  Nubian  temple  of  Sedeinga. 
Amenhotep  was  thus  still  a  god  in  Nubia,  but  in  fact  he  had 
long  since  broken  with  this  court  and  priestly  fiction.  Whether 
consciously  or  not  he  had  assumed  a  modern  standpoint, 
which  must  inevitably  lead  to  sharp  conflict  with  the  almost 
irresistible  inertia  of  tradition  in  an  oriental  country. 

Meantime  all  went  well;  the  lines  of  the  coming  internal 
struggle  were  not  yet  clearly  drawn,  and  of  the  first  signs 
of  trouble  from  without  he  was  unconscious.  A  veritable 
' '  Caesar  divus ' 1  he  presided  over  the  magnificence  of  Thebes. 
In  the  thirtieth  year  of  his  reign  he  celebrated  the  jubilee 

1 II,  865.  « II,  p.  354,  note  a.  3  n,  893  ff. 


352 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


of  his  appointment  as  crown  prince,  which  had  coincided 
with  his  accession.  It  was  on  this  occasion  probably  that  the 
obelisks  before  the  king's  mortuary  temple  were  erected. 
To  render  the  feast  still  more  auspicious  the  chief  treasurer, 
in  presenting  to  the  king  the  enormous  harvest  returns  from 
Nubia  to  Naharin,  was  able  to  report  a  large  increase,  which 
so  pleased  the  king  that  the  local  officials  of  the  treasury  were 
all  received  in  audience  and  presented  with  rich  rewards.1 
The  second  jubilee,  probably  of  the  year  thirty  four,  passed 
without  incident  so  far  as  we  know;  and  in  the  year  thirty 
six,  when  the  third  jubilee  was  celebrated,  the  old  monarch 
was  still  able  to  grant  the  court  an  audience  and  receive 
their  congratulations.2 

But  ominous  signs  of  trouble  had  meanwhile  appeared  on 
the  northern  horizon.  Mitanni  had  been  invaded  by  the 
Hittites  (Kheta),  but  Dushratta,  the  Mitannian  king,  had 
been  able  to  repel  them  and  sent  to  Amenhotep  a  chariot  and 
pair,  besides  two  slaves,  as  a  present  from  the  booty  which 
the  Hittites  had  left  in  his  hands.3  But  the  provinces  of 
Egypt  had  not  been  spared.  Akizzi,  the  Pharaoh's  vassal 
king  of  Katna,  wrote  him  that  the  Hittites  had  invaded  his 
territory  in  the  Orontes  valley,  had  carried  off  the  image  of 
Amon-Re,  bearing  the  name  of  Amenhotep,  and  had  burned 
the  city  as  they  went.'4  Nukhashshi,  which  lay  still  further 
north,  suffered  a  similar  invasion,  and  its  king,  Hadadnirari, 
wrote  a  despairing  letter  to  Amenhotep  with  assurances  of 
loyalty  and  an  appeal  for  support  against  the  invaders.5  All 
this  had  not  been  done  without  the  connivance  of  treacherous 
vassals  of  the  Pharaoh,  who  were  themselves  attempting  the 
conquest  of  territory  on  their  own  account.  The  afterward 
notorious  Aziru  and  his  father,  Abdashirta,  were  leaders  in 
the  movement,  entering  Katna  and  Nukhashshi  from  the 
south  and  plundering  as  they  went.  Others  who  had  made 
common  cause  with  them  threatened  Ubi,  the  region  of 
Damascus.  Akizzi  of  Katna  and  Rib-Addi  of  Byblos  quickly 


i  II,  870-872.  2  n,  873. 

nbid.,  138,  Reverse,  11.  5,  18-31. 


3  Amarna  Letters,  16,  30-37. 
*  Ibid.,  37. 


THE  EMPIRE 


353 


reported  the  defection  of  the  Pharaoh 's  vassals ;  Akizzi  wrote 
appealing  for  speedy  aid:  "0  my  lord,  just  as  Damascus, 
in  the  land  of  Ubi,  stretches  out  her  hand  to  thy  feet,  so  also 
Katna  stretches  out  her  hand  to  thy  feet."  The  situation 
was  far  more  critical  than  it  appeared  to  the  Pharaoh,  for 
he  had  no  means  of  recognizing  the  seriousness  of  the  Hittite 
advance,  and  Akizzi  assured  him  that  the  kings  of  Naharin 
were  loyal,  saying :  "  0  my  lord,  even  as  I  love  my  lord  the 
king,  so  also  do  the  king  of  Nukhashshi,  the  king  of  Niy,  the 
king  of  Senzar  and  the  king  of  Kinanat.  For  these  kings 
are  all  servants  of  my  lord  the  king."  Amenhotep,  there- 
fore, instead  of  marching  with  his  entire  army  immediately 
into  north  Syria,  as  Thutmose  III  would  have  done,  sent 
troops  only.  These  of  course  had  no  trouble  in  momentarily 
quelling  the  turbulent  dynasts  and  putting  a  brief  stop  to 
their  aggressions  against  the  loyal  vassals;1  but  they  were 
quite  unable  to  cope  with  the  southern  advance  of  the  Hit- 
tites,  who  secured  a  footing  in  northern  Naharin  of  the  great- 
est value  in  their  further  plans  for  the  conquest  of  Syria. 
Furthermore  the  king's  long  absence  from  Syria  was  telling 
upon  Egyptian  prestige  there,  and  another  threatening  dan- 
ger to  his  Asiatic  possessions  is  stated  to  have  begun  from 
the  day  when  the  king  had  last  left  Sidon.  An  invasion  of 
the  Khabiri,  desert  Semites,  such  as  had  periodically  inun- 
dated Syria  and  Palestine  from  time  immemorial,  was  now 
taking  place.  It  was  of  such  proportions  that  it  may  fairly 
be  called  an  immigration.  Before  Amenhotep  Ill's  death 
it  had  become  threatening,  and  thus  Ribaddi  of  Byblos  later 
wrote  to  Amenhotep  Ill's  son:  " Since  thy  father  returned 
from  Sidon,  since  that  time  the  lands  have  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  the  Khabiri."2 

Under  such  ominous  conditions  as  these  the  old  Pharaoh, 
whom  we  may  well  call ' £  Amenhotep  the  Magnificent, ' '  drew 
near  his  end.  His  brother  of  Mitanni,  with  whom  he  was 
still  on  terms  of  intimacy,  probably  knowing  of  his  age  and 
weakness,  sent  the  image  of  Ishtar  of  Nineveh  for  the  second 

i  Ibid.,  83,  28-33,  94,  13-18.  2  Ibid.,  69,  71-73. 

23 


354 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


time  to  Egypt,  doubtless  in  the  hope  that  the  far-famed  god- 
dess might  be  able  to  exorcise  the  evil  spirits  which  were 
causing  Amenhotep's  infirmity  and  restore  the  old  king  to 
health.1  But  all  such  means  were  of  no  avail,  and  about 
1375  B.  C,  after  nearly  thirty  six  years  upon  the  throne, 
"Amenhotep  the  Magnificent"  passed  away  and  was  buried 
with  the  other  emperors,  his  fathers,  in  the  Valley  of  the 
Kings '  Tombs. 

i  Ibid.,  20. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


THE  RELIGIOUS  REVOLUTION  OF  IKHNATON 

No  nation  ever  stood  in  direr  need  of  a  strong  and  prac- 
tical ruler  than  did  Egypt  at  the  death  of  Amenhotep  III. 
Yet  she  chanced  to  be  ruled  at  this  fatal  crisis  by  a  young 
dreamer,  who,  in  spite  of  unprecedented  greatness  in  the 
world  of  ideas,  was  not  fitted  to  cope  with  a  situation  demand- 
ing an  aggressive  man  of  affairs  and  a  skilled  military 
leader,— in  fine  such  a  man  as  Thutmose  III.  Amenhotep 
IV,  the  young  and  inexperienced  son  of  Amenhotep  III  and 
the  queen  Tiy,  was  indeed  strong  and  fearless  in  certain 
directions,  but  he  failed  utterly  to  understand  the  practical 
needs  of  his  empire.  He  had  inherited  a  difficult  situation. 
The  conflict  of  new  forces  with  tradition,  was,  as  we  have 
seen,  already  felt  by  his  father.  The  task  before  him  was 
such  manipulation  of  these  conflicting  forces  as  might  even- 
tually give  reasonable  play  to  the  new  and  modern  tendency, 
but  at  the  same  time  to  conserve  enough  of  the  old  to  pre- 
vent a  catastrophe.  It  was  a  problem  of  practical  states- 
manship, but  Amenhotep  IV  saw  it  chiefly  in  its  ideal  aspects. 
His  mother,  Tiy,  and  his  queen,  Nofretete,  perhaps  a  woman 
of  Asiatic  birth,  and  a  favourite  priest,  Eye,  the  husband 
of  his  childhood  nurse,  formed  his  immediate  circle.  The 
first  two  probably  exercised  a  powerful  influence  over  him, 
and  were  given  a  prominent  share  in  the  government,  at  least 
as  far  as  its  public  manifestations  were  concerned,  for  in  a 
manner  quite  surpassing  his  father's  similar  tendency,  he 
constantly  appeared  in  public  with  both  his  mother  and  his 
wife.  The  lofty  and  impractical  aims  which  he  had  in  view 
must  have  found  a  ready  response  'n  these  his  two  most 
influential  counsellors.    Thus,  while  Egypt  was  in  sore  need 

.  355 


356 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


of  a  vigourous  and  skilled  administrator,  the  young  king  was 
in  close  counsel  with  a  priest  and  two  perhaps  gifted  women, 
who,  however  able,  were  not  of  the  fibre  to  show  the  new 
Pharaoh  what  the  empire  really  demanded.  Instead  of  gath- 
ering the  army  so  sadly  needed  in  Naharin,  Amenhotep  IV 
immersed  himself  heart  and  soul  in  the  thought  of  the  time, 
and  the  philosophizing  theology  of  the  priests  was  of  more 
importance  to  him  than  all  the  provinces  of  Asia.  In  such 
contemplations  he  gradually  developed  ideals  and  purposes 
which  make  him  the  most  remarkable  of  all  the  Pharaohs, 
and  the  first  individual  in  human  history. 

The  profound  influence  of  Egypt's  imperial  position  had 
not  been  limited  to  the  externals  of  life,  to  the  manners  and 
customs  of  the  people,  to  the  rich  and  prolific  art,  pregnant 
with  new  possibilities  of  beauty,  but  had  extended  likewise 
to  the  thought  of  the  age.  Such  thought  was  chiefly  theo- 
logical and  we  must  divest  it  of  all  the  ideas  which  are  con- 
noted by  the  modern  term  "the  thought  of  the  age."  Even 
before  the  conquests  in  Asia  the  priests  had  made  great 
progress  in  the  interpretation  of  the  gods,  and  they  had  now 
reached  a  stage  in  which,  like  the  later  Greeks,  they  were 
importing  semi-philosophical  significance  into  the  myths, 
such  as  these  had  of  course  not  originally  possessed.  The 
interpretation  of  a  god  was  naturally  suggested  by  his  place 
or  function  in  the  myth.  Thus  Ptah,  the  artificer-god  of 
Memphis,  furnished  the  priesthood  there  with  a  fruitful  line 
of  thought,  moving  in  concrete  channels,  and  thus  guiding 
the  thinker,  in  an  age  of  intellectual  beginnings,  thinking  in 
a  language  without  terminology  for  such  processes,  even 
when  they  had  once  been  followed  out.  Ptah  had  been  from 
the  remotest  ages  the  god  of  the  architect  and  craftsman,  to 
whom  he  communicated  plans  and  designs  for  architectural 
works  and  the  products  of  the  industrial  arts.  Contemplat- 
ing this  god,  the  Memphite  priest,  little  used  as  his  mind  was 
to  abstractions,  found  a  tangible  channel,  moving  along 
which  he  gradually  gained  a  rational  and  with  certain  limi- 
tations a  philosophical  conception  of  the  world.    The  work- 


THE  RELIGIOUS  REVOLUTION  OF  IKHNATON  357 


shop  of  the  Memphite  temple,  where,  under  Ptah's  guidance, 
were  wrought  the  splendid  statues,  utensils  and  offerings  for 
the  temple,  expands  into  a  world,  and  Ptah,  its  lord,  grows 
into  the  master-workman  of  the  universal  workshop.  As  he 
furnishes  all  designs  to  the  architect  and  craftsman,  so  now 
he  does  the  same  for  all  men  in  all  that  they  do ;  he  becomes 
the  supreme  mind;  he  is  mind  and  all  things  proceed  from 
him.  The  world  and  all  that  is  in  it  existed  as  thought  in 
his  mind ;  and  his  thoughts,  like  his  plans  for  buildings  and 
works  of  art,  needed  but  to  be  expressed  in  spoken  words  to 
take  concrete  form  as  material  realities.  Gods  and  men  alike 
proceeded  from  mind,  and  all  that  they  do  is  but  the  mind  of 
the  god  working  in  them.  A  priest  of  Ptah  has  expressed 
this  in  a  short  poem,  a  part  of  which  vaguely  and  indefinitely 
shows  how  the  minds  of  the  time  were  explaining  the  world : 

Ptah,  the  great,  is  the  mind  and  tongue  of  the  gods.  .  .  . 
Ptah,  from  whom  proceeded  the  power 
Of  the  mind, 
And  of  the  tongue. 

That  which  comes  forth  from  every  mind, 
And  from  every  mouth : 

Of  all  gods,  of  all  people,  of  all  cattle,  of  all  reptiles, 
That  live,  thinking  and  commanding 
Everything  that  he  (Ptah)  wills. 


It  (the  mind)  is  the  one  that  bringeth  forth  every  successful  issue. 

It  is  the  tongue  which  repeats  the  thought  of  the  mind : 

It  (the  mind)  was  the  fashioner  of  all  gods.  .  .  . 

At  a  time  when  every  divine  word 

Came  into  existence  by  the  thought  of  the  mind, 

And  the  command  of  the  tongue.1 

Wherever  we  have  used  the  word  "mind"  in  this  passage 
the  Egyptian  has  " heart,"  which  word  served  him  for 
1 1 mind"  in  exactly  the  same  way  as  the  Hebrews  and  many 
other  peoples  frequently  employ  it ;  much  in  the  same  man- 

1  See  the  author's  account  of  this  remarkable  document,  Zeitschrift  fur 
Aegyptische  Sprache,  XXXIX,  39  ff. 


358 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


ner  indeed  as  we  ourselves  often  use  it,  with  the  difference 
that  the  Egyptian  believed  the  heart  and  the  bowels  actually 
to  be  the  seat  of  mind.  Although  such  notions  could  have 
been  entertained  by  very  limited  circles,  they  were  not  con- 
fined to  the  priests  alone.  Intef,  the  court  herald  of  Thut- 
mose  III,  states  on  his  tombstone  that  he  owed  his  success  to 
the  guidance  of  his  i '  heart, 9  7  to  which  he  listened  implicitly ; 
and  he  adds  that  the  people  said :  ' i  Lo,  it  is  an  oracle  of  the 
god,  which  is  in  every  body."1  "Body"  is  here,  as  com- 
monly, the  word  for  abdomen  or  bowels,  the  seat  of  mind. 
The  Egyptian  had  thus  gained  the  idea  of  a  single  controlling 
intelligence,  behind  and  above  all  sentient  beings,  including 
the  gods.  The  efficient  force  by  which  this  intelligence  put 
his  designs  into  execution  was  his  spoken  "word,"  and  this 
primitive  "logos"  is  undoubtedly  the  incipient  germ  of  the 
later  logos-doctrine  which  found  its  origin  in  Egypt.  Early 
Greek  philosophy  may  also  have  drawn  upon  it. 

Similar  ideas  were  now  being  propagated  regarding  all 
the  greater  gods  of  Egypt,  but  as  long  as  the  kingdom  was 
confined  to  the  Nile  valley  the  activity  of  such  a  god  was 
limited,  in  their  thinking,  to  the  confines  of  the  Pharaoh's 
domain,  and  the  world  of  which  they  thought  meant  no  more. 
From  of  old  the  Pharaoh  was  the  heir  of  the  gods  and  ruled 
the  two  kingdoms  of  the  upper  and  lower  river  which  they 
had  once  ruled.  Thus  they  had  not  in  the  myths  extended 
their  dominion  beyond  the  river  valley,  and  that  valley  origi- 
nally extended  only  from  the  sea  to  the  first  cataract. 'But 
under  the  Empire  all  this  is  changed,  the  god  goes  where  the 
Pharaoh 's  sword  carries  him ;  the  advance  of  the  Pharaoh  's 
boundary-tablets  in  Nubia  and  Syria  is  the  extension  of  the 
god  's  domain.  The  king  is  now  called  ' 1  The  one  who  brings 
the  world  to  him  [the  god],  who  placed  him  [the  Pharaoh] 
on  his  throne. 7  7  2  For  king  and  priest  alike  the  world  is  only 
a  great  domain  of  the  god.  All  the  Pharaoh's  wars  are 
recorded  upon  the  temple  walls,  and  even  in  their  mechanical 
arrangement  his  wars  converge  upon  the  temple  door.3  The 


i  II,  770. 


«II,  959,  1.  3;  1000. 


•Ill,  80. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  REVOLUTION  OF  IKHXATON  359 


theological  theory  of  the  state  is  simply  that  the  king  receives 
the  world  that  he  may  deliver  it  to  the  god,  and  he  prays  for 
extended  conquests  that  the  dominion  of  the  god  may  be 
correspondingly  extended.  Thus  theological  thinking  is 
brought  into  close  and  sensitive  relationship  with  political 
conditions;  and  theological  theory  must  inevitably  extend 
the  active  government  of  the  god  to  the  limits  of  the  domain 
whence  the  king  receives  tribute.  It  can  be  no  accident  that 
the  notion  of  a  practically  universal  god  arose  in  Egypt  at  the 
moment  when  he  was  receiving  universal  tribute  from  the 
world  of  that  day.  Again  the  analogy  of  the  Pharaoh's 
power  unquestionably  operated  powerfully  with  the  Egyp- 
tian theologian  at  this  time ;  for  in  the  myth-making  days  the 
gods  were  conceived  as  Pharaohs  ruling  the  Nile  valley, 
because  the  myth-makers  lived  under  Pharaohs  who  so  ruled. 
Living  now  under  Pharaohs  who  ruled  a  world-empire,  the 
priest  of  the  imperial  age  had  before  him  in  tangible  form 
a  world-dominion  and  a  world-concept,  the  prerequisite  of 
the  notion  of  the  world-god.  Conquered  and  organized  and 
governed,  it  had  now  been  before  him  for  two  hundred  years, 
and  out  of  the  Pharaoh-ruled  world  he  gradually  began  to 
see  the  world-god. 

We  have  thus  far  given  this  god  no  name.  Had  you  asked 
the  Memphite  priests  they  would  have  said  his  name  was 
Ptah,  the  old  god  of  Memphis ;  the  priests  of  Amon  at  Thebes 
would  have  claimed  the  honour  for  Amon,  the  state  god,  as 
a  matter  of  course,  while  the  High  Priest  of  Re  at  Heliopolis 
would  have  pointed  out  the  fact  that  the  Pharaoh  was  the 
son  of  Re  and  the  heir  to  his  kingdom,  and  hence  Re  must 
be  the  supreme  god  of  all  the  empire.  Obscure  gods  in  the 
local  sanctuaries  would  have  found  similar  champions  in 
their  priesthoods  because  they  were  now  identified  with  Re 
and  claimed  his  prerogatives.  But  historically  Re's  claim 
was  undoubtedly  the  best.  Amon  had  never  succeeded  in 
displacing  him.  The  introduction  of  official  letters  still,  as 
of  old,  commends  the  addresse  to  the  favour  of  Re-Harakhte, 
while  in  the  popular  tales  of  the  time  it  is  Re-Harakhte  who 


360 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


rules  the  world.  But  none  of  the  old  divinities  of  Egypt 
had  been  proclaimed  the  god  of  the  empire,  although  in  fact 
the  priesthood  of  Heliopolis  had  gained  the  coveted  honour 
for  their  revered  sun-god,  Ee.  Already  under  Amenhotep 
III  an  old  name  for  the  material  sun,  "Aton,"  had  come  into 
prominent  use,  where  the  name  of  the  sun-god  might  have 
been  expected.  Thus  he  called  the  royal  barge  on  which 
he  sailed  with  Tiy  on  her  beautiful  lake,  "Aton  Gleams."1 
A  company  of  his  body-guard  bore  the  new  god's  name,  and 
there  was  probably  a  chapel  dedicated  to  him  at  Heliopolis. 
The  sun-god,  too,  was  now  and  again  designated  as  "the  sole 
god"  by  Amenhotep  Ill's  contemporaries. 

The  already  existent  conflict  with  traditional  tendencies 
into  which  the  Pharaoh  had  been  forced,  contained  in  itself 
difficulties  enough  to  tax  the  resources  of  any  statesman 
without  the  introduction  of  a  departure  involving  the  most 
dangerous  conflicts  with  the  powerful  priesthoods  and  touch- 
ing religious  tradition,  the  strongest  conservative  force  of  the 
time.  It  was  just  this  rash  step  which  the  young  king  now 
had  no  hesitation  in  taking.  Under  the  name  of  Aton,  then, 
Amenhotep  IV  introduced  the  worship  of  the  supreme  god, 
but  he  made  no  attempt  to  conceal  the  identity  of  his  new 
deity  with  the  old  sun-god,  Ee.  Instructing  his  vizier  in 
the  new  faith,  he  said  to  him,  "The  words  of  Ee  are  before 
thee  .  .  .  my  august  father  who  taught  me  their  essence. 
...  It  was  known  in  my  heart,  revealed  to  my  face,  I  under- 
stood .  .  .  "2  He  thus  attributes  the  new  faith  to  Ee  as 
its  source,  and  claims  to  have  been  himself  the  channel  of  its 
revelation.  He  immediately  assumed  the  office  of  High  Priest 
of  his  new  god  with  the  same  title,  ' 1  Great  Seer, ' '  as  that  of 
the  High  Priest  of  Ee  at  Heliopolis.3  But,  however  evident 
the  Heliopolitan  origin  of  the  new  state  religion  might  be, 
it  was  not  merely  sun-worship ;  the  word  Aton  was  employed 
in  place  of  the  old  word  for  "god"  (nuter),4  and  the  god  is 
clearly  distinguished  from  the  material  sun.  To  the  old  sun- 
god's  name  is  appended  the  explanatory  phrase  "under  his 

*  II,  869.  2  II,  945.  3  II,  934,  1.  2.  «  II,  p.  407,  note  e. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  REVOLUTION  OF  IKHNATON  361 


name:  'Heat  which  is  in  the  Sun  [Aton],'  "  and  he  is  like- 
wise called  "lord  of  the  sun  [Aton]."  The  king,  therefore, 
was  deifying  the  vital  heat  which  he  found  accompanying  all 
life.  It  plays  in  the  new  faith  a  similar  important  part, 
which  we  find  it  assuming  in  the  early  cosmogonic  philoso- 
phies of  the  Greeks.  Thence,  as  we  might  expect,  the  god 
is  stated  to  be  everywhere  active  by  means  of  his  "rays," 
and  his  symbol  is  a  disk  in  the  heavens,  darting  earthward 
numerous  diverging  rays  which  terminate  in  hands,  each 
grasping  the  symbol  of  life.  In  his  age  of  the  world  it  is 
perfectly  certain  that  the  king  could  not  have  had  the  vaguest 
notion  of  the  physico-chemical  aspects  of  his  assumption 
any  more  than  had  the  early  Greeks  in  dealing  with  a  similar 
thought ;  yet  the  fundamental  idea  is  surprisingly  true,  and, 
as  we  shall  see,  marvellously  fruitful.  The  outward  symbol 
of  his  god  thus  broke  sharply  with  tradition,  but  it  was 
capable  of  practical  introduction  in  the  many  different 
nations  making  up  the  empire  and  could  be  understood  at  a 
glance  by  any  intelligent  foreigner,  which  was  far  from 
the  case  with  any  of  the  traditional  symbols  of  Egyptian 
religion  (Figs.  139-40). 

The  new  god  could  not  dispense  with  a  temple  like  those 
of  the  older  deities  whom  he  was  ultimately  to  supersede. 
Early  in  his  reign  Amenhotep  IV  sent  an  expedition  to  the 
sandstone  quarries  of  Silsileh  to  secure  the  necessary  stone 
and  the  chief  nobles  of  his  court  were  in  charge  of  the  works 
at  the  quarry.1  In  the  garden  of  Amon,  which  his  father 
had  laid  out  between  the  temples  of  Karnak  and  Luxor, 
Amenhotep  located  his  new  temple,  which  was  a  large  and 
stately  building,  adorned  with  polychrome  reliefs.  Thebes 
was  now  called  "City  of  the  Brightness  of  Aton,"  and  the 
temple-quarter  "Brightness  of  Aton  the  Great";  while  the 
sanctuary  itself  bore  the  name  "Gem- Aton,"  a  term  of  uncer- 
tain meaning.2  Although  the  other  gods  were  still  tolerated 
as  of  old,3  it  was  nevertheless  inevitable  that  the  priesthood 
of  Amon  should  view  with  growing  jealousy  the  brilliant  rise 


i  II,  935. 


*  II,  p.  388,  note  b. 


•  II,  937. 


362 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


of  a  strange  god  in  their  midst,  an  artificial  creation  of 
which  they  knew  nothing,  save  that  much  of  the  wealth 
formerly  employed  in  the  enrichment  of  Amon's  sanctuary 
was  now  lavished  on  the  intruder.  One  of  Amenhotep  III 's 
High  Priests  of  Amon  had  also  been  chief  treasurer  of  the 
kingdom,  and  another,  Ptahmose,  was  the  grand  vizier  of 
the  realm;  while  the  same  thing  had  occurred  in  the  reign 
of  Hatshepsut,  when  Hapuseneb  had  been  both  vizier  and 
High  Priest  of  Amon.  Besides  these  powers,  the  High 
Priest  of  Amon  was  also  the  supreme  head  of  the  organiza- 
tion including  all  the  priests  of  the  nation.  Indeed,  the  fact 
that  such  extensive  political  power  was  now  wielded  by  the 
High  Priests  of  Amon  must  have  intensified  the  young  king 's 
desire  to  be  freed  from  the  sacerdotal  thrall  which  he  had 
inherited.  His  father  had  evidently  made  some  attempt  to 
shake  off  the  priestly  hand  that  lay  so  heavily  on  the  sceptre, 
for  he  had  succeeded  Ptahmose  by  a  vizier  who  was  not  High 
Priest  of  Amon.  This  new  vizier,  Eamose,  was  won  by  the 
young  king's  gifts,1  and  a  servile  court  followed  him,  even 
superintending  the  quarry  work  for  the  new  temple,  as  we 
have  seen.  The  priesthood  of  Amon,  however,  was  now  a 
rich  and  powerful  body.  They  had  installed  Thutmose  III 
as  king,  and  could  they  have  supplanted  with  one  of  their 
own  tools  the  young  dreamer  who  now  held  the  throne  they 
would  of  course  have  done  so  at  the  first  opportunity.  But 
Amenhotep  IV  was  the  son  of  a  line  of  rulers  too  strong  and 
too  illustrious  to  be  thus  set  aside  even  by  the  most  powerful 
priesthood  in  the  land;  moreover,  he  possessed  unlimited 
personal  force  of  character,  and  he  was  of  course  supported 
in  his  opposition  of  Amon  by  the  older  priesthoods  of  the 
north  at  Memphis  and  Heliopolis,  long  jealous  of  this  inter- 
loper, the  obscure  Theban  god,  who  had  never  been  heard 
of  in  the  north  before  the  rise  of  the  Middle  Kingdom.  A 
conflict  to  the  bitter  end,  with  the  most  disastrous  results 
to  the  Amonite  priesthood  ensued.  It  rendered  Thebes 
intolerable  to  the  young  king,  and  soon  after  he  had  finished 

ill,  944-947. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  REVOLUTION  OF  IKHNATON  363 


his  new  temple  he  resolved  upon  radical  measures.  He  would 
break  with  the  priesthoods  and  make  Aton  the  sole  god,  not 
merely  in  his  own  thought,  but  in  very  fact;  and  Amon 
should  fare  no  better  than  the  rest  of  the  time-honoured  gods 
of  his  fathers.  It  was  no  '  *  Gotterdammerung "  which  the 
king  contemplated,  but  an  immediate  annihilation  of  the 
gods.  As  far  as  their  external  and  material  manifestations 
and  equipment  were  concerned,  this  could  be  and  was  accom- 
plished without  delay.  The  priesthoods,  including  that  of 
Amon,  were  dispossessed,  the  official  temple-worship  of  the 
various  gods  throughout  the  land  ceased,  and  their  names 
were  erased  wherever  they  could  be  found  upon  the  monu- 
ments. The  persecution  of  Amon  was  especially  severe. 
The  cemetery  of  Thebes  was  visited  and  in  the  tombs  of 
the  ancestors  the  hated  name  of  Amon  was  hammered  out 
wherever  it  appeared  upon  the  stone.  The  rows  on  rows 
of  statues  of  the  great  nobles  of  the  old  and  glorious  days 
of  the  Empire,  ranged  along  the  walls  of  the  Karnak  temple, 
were  not  spared,  but  the  god's  name  was  invariably  erased. 
Even  the  royal  statues  of  his  ancestors,  including  the  king's 
father,  were  not  respected ;  and,  what  was  worse,  as  the  name 
of  that  father,  Amenhotep,  contained  the  name  of  Amon,  the 
young  king  was  placed  in  the  unpleasant  predicament  of 
being  obliged  to  cut  out  his  own  father's  name  in  order  to 
prevent  the  name  of  Amon  from  appearing  ' ' writ  large"  on 
all  the  temples  of  Thebes.  The  splendid  stela1  erected  by 
his  father  in  his  mortuary  temple,  recording  all  his  great 
buildings  for  Amon,  was  mercilessly  hacked  and  rendered 
illegible.  Even  the  word  "gods"  was  not  permitted  to 
appear  on  any  of  the  old  monuments  and  the  walls  of  the 
temples  at  Thebes  were  painfully  searched  that  wherever 
the  compromising  word  appeared  it  might  be  blotted  out.2 
And  then  there  was  the  embarrassment  of  the  king's  own 
name,  likewise  Amenhotep,  "Amon  rests,"  which  could  not 
be  spoken  or  placed  on  a  monument.    It  was  of  necessity 

"  II,  878  ff. 

«  See  Zeitschrift  fur  Aegyptische  Sprache,  40,  109-110  and  II,  p.  386,  note  b. 


364 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


also  banished  and  the  king  assumed  in  its  place  the  name 
"Ikhnaton, "  which  means  "Spirit  of  Aton." 

Thebes  was  now  compromised  by  too  many  old  associa- 
tions to  be  a  congenial  place  of  residence  for  so  radical  a 
revolutionist.  As  he  looked  across  the  city  he  saw  stretching 
along  the  western  plain  that  imposing  line  of  mortuary 
temples  of  his  fathers  which  he  had  violated.  They  now 
stood  silent  and  empty.  The  towering  pylons  and  obelisks 
of  Karnak  and  Luxor  were  not  a  welcome  reminder  of 
all  that  his  fathers  had  contributed  to  the  glory  of  Amon, 
and  the  unfinished  hall  of  his  father  at  Luxor,  with  the 
superb  columns  of  the  nave,  still  waiting  for  the  roof,  could 
hardly  have  stirred  pleasant  memories  in  the  heart  of  the 
young  reformer.  A  doubtless  long  contemplated  plan  was 
therefore  undertaken.  Aton,  the  god  of  the  empire,  should 
possess  his  own  city  in  each  of  the  three  great  divisions  of 
the  empire :  Egypt,  Asia  and  Nubia,  and  the  god 's  Egyptian 
city  should  be  made  the  royal  residence.  It  must  have  been 
an  enterprise  requiring  some  time,  but  the  three  cities  were 
duly  founded.  The  Aton-city  of  Nubia  was  situated  oppo- 
site modern  Dulgo,  at  the  foot  of  the  Third  Cataract,  and 
was  thus  in  the  heart  of  the  Egyptian  province.1  It 
was  named  "Gem-Aton"  after  the  Aton-temple  in  Thebes. 
In  Syria  the  Aton-city  is  unknown,  but  Ikhnaton  will  not 
have  done  less  for  Aton  there  than  his  fathers  had  done  for 
Amon.  In  the  sixth  year,  shortly  after  he  had  changed  his 
name,  the  king  was  living  in  his  own  Aton-city  in  Egypt. 
He  chose  as  its  site  a  fine  bay  in  the  cliffs  about  one  hundred 
and  sixty  miles  above  the  Delta  and  nearly  three  hundred 
miles  below  Thebes.  The  cliffs,  leaving  the  river  in  a  semi- 
circle, retreat  at  this  point  some  three  miles  from  the  stream 
and  return  to  it  again  about  five  miles  lower  down.  In  the 
wide  plain  thus  bounded  on  three  sides  by  the  cliffs  and  on 
the  west  by  the  river  Ikhnaton  founded  his  new  residence 
and  the  holy  city  of  Aton.    He  called  it  Akhetaton,  "Hori- 

1 II,  p.  388,  note  b;  see  also  my  "Monuments  of  Sudanese  Nubia,"  Chicago, 
1908,  pp.  51-82. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  REVOLUTION  OF  IKHXATOX  365 


zon  of  Aton,"  and  it  is  known  in  modern  times  as  Tel) 
el-Amarna.  In  addition  to  the  town,  the  territory  around 
it  was  demarked  as  a  domain  belonging  to  the  god,  and 
included  the  plain  on  both  sides  of  the  river.  In  the  cliffs 
on  either  side,  fourteen  large  stelas  (Fig.  140),  one  of  them 
no  less  than  twenty  six  feet  in  height,  were  cut  into  the  rock, 
bearing  inscriptions  determining  the  limits  of  the  entire 
sacred  district  around  the  city.1  As  thus  laid  out  the  dis- 
trict was  about  eight  miles  wide  from  north  to  south,  and 
from  twelve  to  over  seventeen  miles  long  from  cliff  to  cliff. 
The  king's  oath  regarding  it  is  recorded  on  the  extreme 
northern  and  southern  stelas  thus:  "His  majesty  raised  his 
hand  to  heaven,  to  him  who  made  him,  even  to  Aton,  saying, 
'This  is  my  testimony  forever,  and  this  is  my  witness  for- 
ever, this  landmark  [stela].  ...  I  have  made  Akhetaton  for 
my  father  as  a  dwelling.  ...  I  have  demarked  Akhetaton  on 
its  south,  on  its  north,  on  its  west,  on  its  east.  I  shall  not  pass 
beyond  the  southern  landmark  of  Akhetaton  toward  the  south, 
nor  shall  I  pass  beyond  the  northern  landmark  of  Akhetaton 
toward  the  north.  ...  He  has  made  his  circuit  for  his  own, 
he  has  made  his  altar  in  its  midst,  whereon  I  make  offering  to 
him.'  "2  Whether  this  statement  that  he  would  never  pass 
beyond  the  boundary  of  the  district,  a  vow  which  is  found 
referring  to  all  four  cardinal  points,  is  merely  a  legal  phrase 
by  which  a  property  owner  recognized  that  he  had  no  rights 
beyond  his  just  limit,  the  boundary  of  his  property;  or 
whether  the  king  actually  carried  out  this  vow  literally  and 
remained  the  rest  of  his  life  in  Akhetaton  we  cannot  say. 
But  the  phrase  is  not  found  in  any  other  boundary  land- 
marks known  to  us.  The  region  thus  demarked  was  then 
legally  conveyed  to  Aton  by  the  king's  own  decree,  saying: 
"Now  as  for  the  area  within  the  .  .  .  landmarks  from  the 
eastern  mountain  [cliffs]  to  the  western  mountain  of  Akhe- 
taton opposite,  it  belongs  to  my  father,  Aton,  who  is  given 
life  forever  and  ever :  whether  mountains  or  cliffs,  or  swamps 
...  or  uplands,  or  fields,  or  waters,  or  towns,  or  shores,  or 

i  II,  949-972.  2  IT  954. 


366 


A  H7ST0RY  OF  EGYPT 


people,  or  cattle,  or  trees,  or  anything  which  Aton,  my 
father  has  made.  ...  I  have  made  it  for  Aton,  my  father, 
forever  and  ever. ' ' 1  And  on  another  stela  he  says  that  they 
are  to  belong  to  the  temple  of  Aton  in  Akhetaton  forever 
and  ever  as  offerings.2  Besides  this  sacred  domain  the  god 
was  endowed  with  revenues  from  other  lands  in  Egypt  and 
Nubia,3  and  probably  also  in  Syria.  The  city  thus  estab- 
lished was  to  be  the  real  capital  of  the  empire,  for  the  king 
himself  said:  "The  whole  land  shall  come  hither,  for  the 
beautiful  seat  of  Akhetaton  shall  be  another  seat  [capital], 
and  I  will  give  them  audience  whether  they  be  north  or  south 
or  west  or  east."4  The  royal  architect,  Bek,  was  sent  to 
the  first  cataract  to  procure  stone  for  the  new  temple,5  or 
we  should  rather  say  temples,  for  no  less  than  three  were 
now  built  in  the  new  city,6  one  for  the  queen  mother,  Tiy, 
and  another  for  the  princess  Beketaton  ("Maid-servant  of 
Aton"),  beside  the  state  temple  of  the  king  himself.7 
Around  the  temples  rose  the  palace  of  the  king  and  the 
chateaus  of  his  nobles,  one  of  whom  describes  the  city  thus : 
"Akhetaton,  great  in  loveliness,  mistress  of  pleasant  cere- 
monies, rich  in  possessions,  the  offerings  of  Re  in  her  midst. 
At  the  sight  of  her  beauty  there  is  rejoicing.  She  is  lovely 
and  beautiful;  when  one  sees  her  it  is  like  a  glimpse  of 
heaven.  Her  number  cannot  be  calculated.  When  the  Aton 
rises  in  her  he  fills  her  with  his  rays  and  he  embraces  [with 
his  rays]  his  beloved  son,  son  of  eternity,  who  came  forth 
from  Aton  and  offers  the  earth  to  him  who  placed  him  on  his 
throne,  causing  the  earth  to  belong  to  him  who  made  him. ' 9  8 
On  the  day  when  the  temple  was  ready  to  receive  the  first 
dues  from  its  revenues  the  king  proceeded  thither  in  his 
chariot  accompanied  by  his  four  daughters  and  a  gorgeous 
retinue.  They  were  received  at  the  temple  with  shouts  of 
"Welcome";  a  rich  oblation  filled  the  high  altar  in  the 
temple  court,  while  the  store-chambers  around  it  were  groan- 
ing with  the  wealth  of  the  newly  paid  revenues.9    The  king 

i  II,  966.  *  II,  972.  «  II,  957. 

*  II,  955.  s  II,  973  ff.  c  II,  1016-18. 

» Ibid.  »  II,  1000.  »  II,  982. 


Fig.  136.-ROYAL  PORTRAIT  FlG.  137.-PORTRAIT  OF  AMENHOTEP,  SON 

OF  THE  EMPIRE.    (Cairo  OF  HAPI.    See  p.  341.    (Cairo  Museum.) 

Museum.) 


THE  RELIGIOUS  REVOLUTION  OF  IKHXATON  367 


himself  participated  in  such  ceremonies,1  while  the  queen 
"sends  the  Aton  to  rest  with  a  sweet  voice,  her  two  beau- 
tiful hands  bearing  the  two  sistrums.,,a  But  Ikhnaton  no 
longer  attempted  to  act  as  High  Priest  himself ;  one  of  his 
favourites,  Merire  ("Beloved  of  Re")  was  appointed  by 
him  to  the  office,  coming  one  day  for  this  purpose  with  his 
friends  to  the  balcony  of  the  palace,  in  which  the  king  and 
queen  appeared  in  state.  The  king  then  formally  promoted 
Merire  to  the  exalted  office,  saying:  "Behold,  I  am  appoint- 
ing thee  for  myself  to  be  ' Great  Seer'  [High  Priest]  of  the 
Aton  in  the  temple  of  Aton  in  Akhetaton.  ...  I  give  to  thee 
the  office  saying,  'Thou  shalt  eat  the  food  of  Pharaoh,  thy 
lord,  in  the  house  of  Aton.'  "3  Merire  was  so  faithful  in  the 
administration  of  the  temple  that  the  king  publicly  rewarded 
him  with  "the  gold,"  the  customary  distinction  granted  to 
zealous  servitors  of  the  Pharaoh.  At  the  door  of  one  of  the 
temple  buildings  the  king,  queen  and  two  daughters  extend 
to  the  fortunate  Merire  the  rewards  of  fidelity,  and  the  king 
says  to  the  attendants:  "Hang  gold  at  his  neck  before  and 
behind,  and  gold  on  his  legs ;  because  of  his  hearing  the 
teaching  of  Pharaoh  concerning  every  saying  in  these  beau- 
tiful seats  which  Pharaoh  has  made  in  the  sanctuary  in  the 
Aton-temple  in  Akhetaton."4  It  thus  appears  that  Merire 
had  given  heed  to  the  king's  teachings  regarding  the  ritual 
of  the  temple,  or,  as  he  says,  "every  saying  in  these  beautiful 
seats." 

It  becomes  more  and  more  evident  that  all  that  was  devised 
and  done  in  the  new  city  and  in  the  propagation  of  the  Aton 
faith  is  directly  due  to  the  king  and  bears  the  stamp  of  his 
individuality.  A  king  who  did  not  hesitate  to  erase  his 
own  father's  name  on  the  monuments  in  order  to  annihilate 
Amon,  the  great  foe  of  his  revolutionary  movement,  was  not 
one  to  stop  half  way,  and  the  men  about  him  must  have  been 
involuntarily  carried  on  at  his  imperious  will.  But  Ikhna- 
ton understood  enough  of  the  old  policy  of  the  Pharaohs  to 
know  that  he  must  hold  his  party  by  practical  rewards,  and 

"  §i*4,  11.  17-18.  2  11,  995,  11.  21  f.         3  11,  985.  *  II.  987. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  REVOLUTION  OF  EKHNATON  369 


the  leading  partisans  of  his  movement  like  Merire  enjoyed 
liberal  bounty  at  his  hands  (Fig.  139 ).1  Thus  one  of  his 
priests  of  Aton,  and  at  the  same  time  his  master  of  the  royal 
horse,  named  Eye,  who  had  by  good  fortune  happened  to 
marry  the  nurse  of  the  king,  renders  this  very  evident  in 
such  statements  as  the  following:  ' 'He  doubles  to  me  my 
favours  in  silver  and  gold,"  or  again,  addressing  the  king, 
"How  prosperous  is  he  who  hears  thy  teaching  of  life !  He 
is  satisfied  with  seeing  thee  without  ceasing. ' ' 2  The  general 
of  the  army,  Mai,  enjoyed  similar  bounty,  boasting  of  it  in 
the  same  way:  "He  hath  doubled  to  me  my  favours  like 
the  numbers  of  the  sand.  I  am  the  head  of  the  officials,  at 
the  head  of  the  people ;  my  lord  has  advanced  me  because 
I  have  carried  out  his  teaching,  and  I  hear  his  word  without 
ceasing.  My  eyes  behold  thy  beauty  every  day,  0  my  lord, 
wise  like  Aton,  satisfied  with  truth.  How  prosperous  is  he 
who  hears  thy  teaching  of  life !  "3  Although  there  must  have 
been  a  nucleus  of  men  who  really  appreciated  the  ideal 
aspects  of  the  king's  teaching,  it  is  thus  evident  that  many 
were  chiefly  influenced  by  "the  loaves  and  the  fishes." 

Indeed  there  was  one  royal  favour  which  must  have  been 
welcome  to  them  all  without  exception.  This  was  the  beau- 
tiful cliff-tomb  which  the  king  commanded  his  craftsmen  to 
hew  out  of  the  eastern  cliffs  for  each  one  of  his  favourites. 
For  the  old  mortuary  practices  were  not  all  suppressed  by 
Ikhnaton,  and  it  was  still  necessary  for  a  man  to  be  buried 
in  the  "eternal  house,"  with  its  endowment  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  deceased  in  the  hereafter.4  But  that  eternal 
house  was  no  longer  disfigured  with  hideous  demons  and 
grotesque  monsters  which  should  confront  the  dead  in  the 
future  life;  and  the  magic  paraphernalia  necessary  to  meet 

1  Description  of  Fig.  139:  Leaning  upon  the  cushioned  balustrade  of  the 
palace  balcony  with  his  queen  and  his  infant  daughters  by  his  side,  the  king 
throws  down  golden  collars,  vessels,  rings  and  ornaments  to  his  favourites. 
The  queen  likewise  throws  two  collars.  The  servants  and  suite  of  Eye  dance 
with  joy  or  bow  ceremoniously.  Above  (that  is  behind)  are  the  waiting 
chariots  of  Eye  and  his  wife,  while  next  to  (below)  these  his  scribes  make 
record  of  the  eA-ent,  carefully  listing  all  the  gifts. 

2  II,  994,  11.  16-17.  3  II,  1002-3.  «  II,  996. 
24 


370 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


and  vanquish  the  dark  powers  of  the  nether  world,  which 
filled  the  tombs  of  the  old  order  at  Thebes,  were  completely 
banished.  In  thus  suppressing  these  base  and  repulsive 
devices,  which  the  perverted  imagination  of  a  stupid  priest- 
hood had  imposed  upon  an  implicit  people,  the  king  's  reform 
was  most  salutary.  The  tomb  now  became  a  monument  to 
the  deceased;  the  walls  of  its  chapel  bore  fresh  and  natural 
pictures  from  the  life  of  the  people  in  Akhetaton,  particu- 
larly the  incidents  in  the  official  career  of  the  dead  man,  and 
preferably  his  intercourse  with  the  king.  Thus  the  city  of 
Akhetaton  is  now  better  known  to  us  from  its  cemetery  than 
from  its  ruins.  Throughout  these  tombs  the  nobles  take 
delight  in  reiterating,  both  in  relief  and  inscription,  the  inti- 
mate relation  between  Aton  and  the  king.  Over  and  over 
again  they  show  the  king  and  the  queen  together  standing 
under  the  disk  of  Aton,  whose  rays,  terminating  in  hands, 
descend  and  embrace  the  king.1  The  vulture-goddess,  Mut, 
who,  since  the  hoary  age  of  the  Thinites  had  appeared  on 
all  the  monuments  extending  her  protecting  wings  over  the 
Pharaoh's  head,  had  long  since  been  banished.  The  nobles 
constantly  pray  to  the  god  for  the  king,  saying  that  he 
"came  forth  from  thy  rays,"2  or  "thou  hast  formed  him 
out  of  thine  own  rays";3  and  interspersed  through  their 
prayers  are  numerous  current  phrases  of  the  Aton  faith, 
which  have  now  become  conventional,  replacing  those  of  the 
old  orthodox  religion,  which  it  must  have  been  very  awkward 
for  them  to  cease  using.  Thus  they  demonstrated  how 
zealous  they  had  been  in  accepting  and  appropriating  the 
king's  new  teaching.  On  state  occasions,  instead  of  the  old 
stock  phrases,  with  innumerable  references  to  the  traditional 
gods,  every  noble  who  would  enjoy  the  king's  favour  was 
evidently  obliged  to  show  his  familiarity  with  the  Aton  faith 
and  the  king's  position  in  it  by  a  liberal  use  of  these  allu- 
sions. Even  the  Syrian  vassals  were  wise  enough  to  make 
their  dispatches  pleasant  reading  by  glossing  them  with 
appropriate  recognition  of  the  supremacy  of  the  sun-god. 4 

>n,  1012  and  infra,  Fig.  139,  p.  368.    « II,  1000,  1.  5;  991,  1.  3. 

*  II,  1010,  1.  3.  *  Amarna  Letters,  149,  6  ff.,  and  often. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  REVOLUTION  OF  IKHNATON  371 


The  source  of  such  phrases  was  really  the  king  himself,  as 
we  have  before  intimated,  and  something  of  the  "teaching" 
whence  they  were  taken,  so  often  attributed  to  him,  is  pre- 
served in  the  tombs 1  to  which  we  have  referred. 

Either  for  the  temple  service  or  for  personal  devotions 
the  king  composed  two  hymns  to  Aton,  both  of  which  the 
nobles  had  engraved  on  the  walls  of  their  tomb  chapels.  Of 
all  the  monuments  left  by  this  unparalleled  revolution,  these 
hymns  are  by  far  the  most  remarkable;  and  from  them  we 
may  gather  an  intimation  of  the  doctrines  which  the  specu- 
lative young  Pharaoh  had  sacrificed  so  much  to  disseminate. 
They  are  regularly  entitled :  1 '  Praise  of  Aton  by  king  Ikhna- 
ton  and  queen  Nef  ernef  ruaton ' ' ;  and  the  longer  and  finer 
of  the  two  is  worthy  of  being  known  in  modern  literature. 
The  titles  of  the  separate  strophes  are  the  addition  of  the 
present  author,  and  in  the  translation  no  attempt  has  been 
made  to  do  more  than  to  furnish  an  accurate  rendering.  The 
one  hundred  and  fourth  Psalm  of  the  Hebrews  shows  a 
notable  similarity  to  our  hymn  both  in  the  thought  and  the 
sequence,  so  that  it  seemed  desirable  to  place  the  most  notice- 
ably parallel  passages  side  by  side. 

The  Splendour  of  Aton. 
Thy  dawning  is  beautiful  in  the  horizon  of  heaven, 
0  living  Aton,  Beginning  of  life ! 
When  thou  risest  in  the  eastern  horizon  of  heaven, 
Thou  fillest  every  land  with  thy  beauty; 

For  thou  are  beautiful,  great,  glittering,  high  over  the  earth; 

Thy  rays,  they  encompass  the  lands,  even  all  thou  hast  made. 

Thou  art  Re,  and  thou  hast  carried  them  all  away  captive ; 

Thou  bindest  them  by  thy  love. 

Though  thou  art  afar,  thy  rays  are  on  earth ; 

Though  thou  art  on  high,  thy  footprints  are  the  day. 

Night. 

When  thou  settest  in  the  western    Thou  makest  darkness  and  it  is 

horizon  of  heaven,  night, 
The  world  is  in  darkness  like  the    Wherein  all  the  beasts  of  the 

dead.  forest  do  creep  forth. 

1 II,  977-1018. 


372 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


They  sleep  in  their  chambers, 
Their  heads  are  wrapt  up, 
Their  nostrils  stopped,  and  none 

seeth  the  other. 
Stolen  are  all  their  things,  that 

are  under  their  heads, 
While  they  know  it  not. 
Every  lion  cometh  forth  from  his 

den, 

All  serpents,  they  sting. 
Darkness  reigns  ( ? ) , 
The  world  is  in  silence, 
He  that  made  them  has  gone  to 
rest  in  his  horizon. 

Day  and  Man. 


The  young  lions  roar  after  their 
prey; 

They  seek  their  meat  from  God. 

(Psalm  104,  20-21.) 


Bright  is  the  earth, 
When  thou  risest  in  the  horizon, 
When  thou  shinest  as  Aton  by 
day. 

The  darkness  is  banished, 
When  thou  sendest  forth  thy 
rays, 

The  Two  Lands  [Egypt]  are  in 

daily  festivity, 
Awake  and  standing  upon  their 

feet, 

For  thou  hast  raised  them  up. 
Their  limbs  bathed,  they  take 

their  clothing ; 
Their  arms  uplifted  in  adoration 

to  thy  dawning. 
Then  in  all  the  world,  they  do 

their  work. 


The  sun  ariseth,  they  get  them 

away, 

And  lay  them  down  in  their 
dens. 

Man  goeth  forth  unto  his  work, 
And  to  his  labour  until  the  even- 
ing. 

(Psalm  104,  22-23.) 


Day  and  the  Animals  and  Plants. 

All  cattle  rest  upon  their  herbage, 

All  trees  and  plants  nourish, 

The  birds  nutter  in  their  marshes, 

Their  wings  uplifted  in  adoration  to  thee. 

All  the  sheep  dance  upon  their  feet, 


THE  RELIGIOUS  REVOLUTION  OF  IKHNATON  373 


All  winged  things  fly, 

They  live  when  thou  hast  shone  upon  them. 


Day  and  the  Waters. 

The  barques  sail  up-stream  and  Yonder  is  the  sea,  great  and 

down-stream  alike.  wide, 

Every  highway  is  open  because  Wherein  are  things  creeping  in- 

thou  hast  dawned.  numerable 

The  fish  in  the  river  leap  up  be-  Both  small  and  great  beasts. 

fore  thee,  There  go  the  ships ; 

And  thy  rays  are  in  the  midst  There  is  leviathan,  whom  thou 

of  the  great  sea.  hast  formed  to  sport  with  him. 

(Psalm  104,  25-26.) 

Creation  of  Man. 

Thou  art  he  who  Greatest  the  man-child  in  woman, 
Who  makest  seed  in  man, 

Who  giveth  life  to  the  son  in  the  body  of  his  mother, 
Who  soothest  him  that  he  may  not  weep, 
.    A  nurse  [even]  in  the  womb. 

Who  giveth  breath  to  animate  every  one  that  he  maketh. 
When  he  cometh  forth  from  the  body, 
...  on  the  day  of  his  birth, 
Thou  openest  his  mouth  in  speech, 
Thou  suppliest  his  necessities. 


Creation  of  Animals. 

When  the  chicklet  crieth  in  the  egg-shell, 

Thou  givest  him  breath  therein,  to  preserve  him  alive. 

When  thou  hast  perfected  him 

That  he  may  pierce  the  egg, 

He  cometh  forth  from  the  egg, 

To  chirp  with  all  his  might ; 

He  runneth  about  upon  his  two  feet, 

When  he  hath  come  forth  therefrom. 

The  Whole  Creation. 

How  manifold  are  all  thy  works !  0  lord,  how  manifold  are  thy 
They  are  hidden  from  before  us,       works ! 


374 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


In  wisdom  hast  thou  made  them 
all; 

The  earth  is  full  of  thy  crea- 
tures. 

(Psalm  104,  24.) 


0  thou  sole  god,  whose  powers  no 
other  possesseth.1 

Thou  didst  create  the  earth  ac- 
cording to  thy  desire. 

While  thou  wast  alone : 

Men,  all  cattle  large  and  small, 

All  that  are  upon  the  earth, 

That  go  about  upon  their  feet ; 

All  that  are  on  high, 

That  fly  with  their  wings. 

The  countries  of  Syria  and 
Nubia, 

The  land  of  Egypt; 

Thou  settest  every  man  in  his 
place, 

Thou  suppliest  their  necessities. 
Every  one  has  his  possessions, 
And  his  days  are  reckoned. 
Their   tongues   are   divers  in 
speech, 

Their  forms  likewise  and  their 
skins, 

For  thou  divider,  hast  divided 
the  peoples. 

Watering  the  Earth. 

Thou  makest  the  Nile  in  the  Nether  World, 

Thou  bringest  it  at  thy  desire,  to  preserve  the  people  alive. 

0  lord  of  them  all,  when  feebleness  is  in  them, 

0  lord  of  every  house,  who  risest  for  them, 

0  sun  of  day,  the  fear  of  every  distant  land, 

Thou  makest  [also]  their  life. 

Thou  hast  set  a  Nile  in  heaven, 

That  it  may  fall  for  them, 

Making  floods  upon  the  mountains,  like  the  great  sea; 
And  watering  their  fields  among  their  towns. 


How  excellent  are  thy  designs,  0  lord  of  eternity! 
The  Nile  in  heaven  is  for  the  strangers, 
*  The  other  hymns  frequently  say,  "  0  thou  sole  god,  beside  whom  there  is 
no  other." 


THE  RELIGIOUS  REVOLUTION  OF  IKHNATON 


And  for  the  cattle  of  every  land,  that  go  upon  their  feet; 
But  the  Nile,  it  cometh  from  the  nether  world  for  Egypt. 

Thus  thy  rays  nourish  every  garden, 

When  thou  risest  they  live,  and  grow  by  thee. 

The  Seasons. 

Thou  makest  the  seasons,  in  order  to  create  all  thy  works: 

Winter  bringing  them  coolness, 

And  the  heat  [of  summer  likewise]. 

Thou  hast  made  the  distant  heaven  to  rise  therein, 

In  order  to  behold  all  that  thou  didst  make, 

While  thou  wast  alone, 

Rising  in  thy  form  as  living  Aton, 

Dawning,  shining  afar  off  and  returning. 

Beauty  Due  to  Light. 

Thou  makest  the  beauty  of  form,  through  thyself  alone. 

Cities,  towns  and  settlements, 

On  highway  or  on  river, 

All  eyes  see  thee  before  them, 

For  thou  art  Aton  of  the  day  over  the  earth. 

Revelation  to  the  King. 

Thou  art  in  my  heart, 

There  is  no  other  that  knoweth  thee, 

Save  thy  son  Ikhnaton. 

Thou  hast  made  him  wise  in  thy  designs 

And  in  thy  might. 

The  world  is  in  thy  hand, 

Even  as  thou  hast  made  them. 

W7hen  thou  hast  risen,  they  live; 

When  thou  settest,  they  die. 

For  thou  art  duration,  beyond  thy  mere  limbs, 

By  thee  man  liveth, 

And  their  eyes  look  upon  thy  beauty, 

Until  thou  settest. 

All  labour  is  laid  aside, 

When  thou  settest  in  the  west ; 


376 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


When  thou  risest,  they  are  made  to  grow 

 for  the  king. 

Since  thou  didst  establish  the  earth, 
Thou  hast  raised  them  up  for  thy  son, 
Who  came  forth  from  thy  limbs, 
The  king,  living  in  truth, 

The  lord  of  the  Two  Lands  Nefer-khepru-Re,  Wan-Re, 

The  son  of  Re,  living  in  truth,  lord  of  diadems, 

Ikhnaton,  whose  life  is  long; 

[And  for]  the  great  royal  wife,  his  beloved, 

Mistress  of  the  Two  Lands,  Nefer  nefru  aton,  Nofretete, 

Living  and  flourishing  for  ever  and  ever. 

In  this  hymn  the  universalism  of  the  empire  finds  full 
expression  and  the  royal  singer  sweeps  his  eye  from  the  far- 
off  cataracts  of  the  Nubian  Nile  to  the  remotest  lands  of 
Syria.    These  are  not  thoughts  which  we  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  attribute  to  the  men  of  some  fourteen  hundred 
years  before  Christ.    A  new  spirit  has  breathed  upon  the 
dry  bones  of  traditionalism  in  Egypt,  and  he  who  reads 
these  lines  for  the  first  time  must  be  moved  with  involuntary 
admiration  for  the  young  king  who  in  such  an  age  found 
such  thoughts  in  his  heart.   He  grasped  the  idea  of  a  world- 
dominator,  as  the  creator  of  nature,  in  which  the  king  saw 
revealed  the  creator's  beneficent  purpose  for  all  his  creat- 
ures, even  the  meanest ;  for  the  birds  fluttering  about  in  the 
lily-grown  Nile-marshes  to  him  seemed  to  be  uplifting  their 
wings  in  adoration  of  their  creator ;  and  even  the  fish  in  the 
stream  leaped  up  in  praise  to  God.     It  is  his  voice  that 
summons  the  blossoms  and  nourishes  the  chicklet  or  com- 
mands the  mighty  deluge  of  the  Nile.   He  called  Aton,  "the 
father  and  the  mother  of  all  that  he  had  made,"  and  he 
saw  in  some  degree  the  goodness  of  that  All-Father  as  did 
he  who  bade  us  consider  the  lilies.   He  based  the  universal 
sway  of  God  upon  his  fatherly  care  of  all  men  alike,  irre- 
spective of  race  or  nationality,  and  to  the  proud  and  exclu- 
sive Egyptian  he  pointed  to  the  all-embracing  bounty  of  the 
common  father  of  humanity,  even  placing  Syria  and  Nubia 


Fragment  of  painted  pavement  from  the  palace  of  Ikhnaton  at  Amarna. 
See  p.  378.    (From  Petrie,  Amarna..) 


THE  RELIGIOUS  REVOLUTION  OP  IKHNATON  377 


before  Egypt  in  his  enumeration.  It  is  this  aspect  of 
Ikhnaton's  mind  which  is  especially  remarkable;  he  is  the 
first  prophet  of  history.  While  to  the  traditional  Pharaoh 
the  state  god  was  only  the  triumphant  conqueror,  who 
crushed  all  peoples  and  drove  them  tribute-laden  before 
the  Pharaoh's  chariot,  Ikhnaton  saw  in  him  the  beneficent 
father  of  all  men.  It  is  the  first  time  in  history  that  a  dis- 
cerning eye  has  caught  this  great  universal  truth.  Again 
his  whole  movement  was  but  a  return  to  nature,  resulting 
from  a  spontaneous  recognition  of  the  goodness  and  the 
beauty  evident  in  it,  mingled  also  with  a  consciousness  of 
the  mystery  in  it  all,  which  adds  just  the  fitting  element  of 
mysticism  in  such  a  faith. 

How  manifold  are  all  thy  works ! 
They  are  hidden  from  before  us, 
0  thou  sole  god,  whose  powers  no  other  possesseth. 

While  Ikhnaton  thus  recognized  clearly  the  power,  and  to 
a  surprising  extent,  the  beneficence  of  God,  there  is  not  here 
a  very  spiritual  conception  of  the  deity  nor  any  attribution 
to  him  of  ethical  qualities  beyond  those  which  Amon  had 
long  been  supposed  to  possess.  The  king  has  not  percep- 
tibly risen  from  the  beneficence  to  the  righteousness  in  the 
character  of  God,  nor  to  his  demand  for  this  in  the  charac- 
ter of  men.  Nevertheless,  there  is  in  his  ' 1 teaching,"  as  it 
is  fragmentarily  preserved  in  the  hymns  and  tomb-inscrip- 
tions of  his  nobles,  a  constant  emphasis  upon  "truth"  such 
as  is  not  found  before  nor  since.  The  king  always  attaches 
to  his  name  the  phrase  "living  in  truth,"  and  that  this 
phrase  was  not  meaningless  is  evident  in  his  daily  life.  To 
him  it  meant  an  acceptance  of  the  daily  facts  of  living  in 
a  simple  and  unconventional  manner.  For  him  what  was 
was  right  and  its  propriety  was  evident  by  its  very  exist- 
ence. Thus  his  family  life  was  open  and  unconcealed  be- 
fore the  people.  He  took  the  greatest  delight  in  his  children 
and  appeared  with  them  and  the  queen,  their  mother,  on 
all  possible  occasions,  as  if  he  had  been  but  the  humblest 
scribe  in  the  Aton-temple.  He  had  himself  depicted  on  the 
monuments  while  enjoying  the  most  familiar  and  unaffected 


378 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


intercourse  with  his  family,  and  whenever  he  appeared  in 
the  temple  to  offer  sacrifice  the  queen  and  the  daughters 
she  had  borne  him  participated  in  the  service.  All  that  was 
natural  was  to  him  true,  and  he  never  failed  practically  to 
exemplify  this  belief,  however  radically  he  was  obliged  to 
disregard  tradition. 

Such  a  principle  unavoidably  affected  the  art  of  the  time 
in  which  the  king  took  great  interest,  Bek,  his  chief  sculp- 
tor, appended  to  his  title  the  words,  "whom  his  majesty 
himself  taught. ' ' 1  Thus  the  artists  of  his  court  were  taught 
to  make  the  chisel  and  the  brush  tell  the  story  of  what  they 
actually  saw.  The  result  was  a  simple  and  beautiful  real- 
ism that  saw  more  clearly  than  ever  any  art  had  seen  before 
(Figs.  119,  147-8).  They  caught  the  instantaneous  postures 
of  animal  life;  the  coursing  hound,  the  fleeing  game,  the 
wild  bull  leaping  in  the  swamp  (Fig.  144) ;  for  all  these 
belonged  to  the  "truth, "  in  which  Ikhnaton  lived.  The 
king's  person  was  no  exception  to  the  law  of  the  new  art. 
The  monuments  of  Egypt  bore  what  they  had  never  borne 
before,  a  Pharaoh  not  frozen  in  the  conventional  posture 
demanded  by  the  traditions  of  court  propriety  (Figs.  141, 
143).  The  modelling  of  the  human  figure  at  this  time  was 
so  plastic  that  at  the  first  glance  one  is  sometimes  in  doubt 
whether  he  has  before  him  a  product  of  the  Greek  age  (Fig. 
142).  Even  complex  compositions  of  grouped  figures  in 
the  round  were  now  first  conceived.  Fragments  recently 
discovered  show  that  in  the  palace  court  at  Akhetaton,  a 
group  in  stone  depicted  the  king  speeding  his  chariot  at 
the  heels  of  the  wounded  lion.  This  was  indeed  a  new 
chapter  in  the  history  of  art,  even  though  now  lost.  It  was 
in  some  things  an  obscure  chapter;  for  the  strange  treat- 
ment of  the  lower  limbs  by  Ikhnaton 's  artists  is  a  problem 
which  still  remains  unsolved  and  cannot  be  wholly  ac- 
counted for  by  supposing  a  mal-formation  of  the  king's 
own  limbs.  It  is  one  of  those  unhealthy  symptoms  which 
are  visible  too  in  the  body  politic,  and  to  these  last  we 
must  now  turn  if  we  would  learn  how  fatal  to  the  material 
interests  of  the  state  this  violent  break  with  tradition 
has  been. 

*  II,  975. 


CHAPTER  XIX 


THE  FALL  OF  IKHNATON,  AND  THE  DISSOLUTION 
OF  THE  EMPIKE 

Wholly  absorbed  in  the  exalted  religion  to  which  he  had 
given  his  life,  stemming  the  tide  of  tradition  that  was  daily 
as  strong  against  him  as  at  first,  Ikhnaton  was  beset  with 
too  many  enterprises  and  responsibilities  of  a  totally  differ- 
ent nature,  to  give  much  attention  to  the  affairs  of  the 
empire  abroad.  Indeed,  as  we  shall  see,  he  probably  did 
not  realize  the  necessity  of  doing  so  until  it  was  far  too 
late.  On  his  accession  his  sovereignty  in  Asia  had  immedi- 
ately been  recognized  by  the  Hittites  and  the  powers  of  the 
Euphrates  valley.  Dushratta  of  Mitanni  wrote  to  the  queen- 
mother,  Tiy,  requesting  her  influence  with  the  new  king 
for  a  continuance  of  the  old  friendship  which  he  had  en- 
joyed with  Ikhnaton 's  father,1  and  to  the  young  king  he 
wrote  a  letter  of  condolence  on  his  father,  Amenhotep  Ill's 
death,  not  forgetting  to  add  the  usual  requests  for  plentiful 
gold.2  Burraburyash  of  Babylon  sent  similar  assurances 
of  sympathy,  but  only  the  pass-port  of  his  messenger,  call- 
ing on  the  kings  of  Canaan  to  grant  him  speedy  passage,  has 
survived.3  A  son  of  Burraburyash  later  sojourned  at 
Ikhnaton 's  court  and  married  a  daughter  of  the  latter,4  and 
her  Babylonian  father-in-law  sent  her  a  noble  necklace  of 
over  a  thousand  gems.  But  such  intercourse  did  not  last 
long,  as  we  shall  see. 

Meantime  the  power  of  the  Hittites  in  northern  Syria 
was  constantly  on  the  increase,  as  they  were  reinforced  by 
the  southern  movement  of  their  countrymen  behind  them. 
This  remarkable  race,  who  still  form  one  of  the  greatest 
problems  in  the  study  of  the  early  orient,  were  now  emerging 

i  Amarna  Letters,  22.         *  Ibid.,  21.  »  Ibid.,  14.         *  Ibid.,  8,  41. 

379 


380 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


from  the  obscurity  which  had  hitherto  enveloped  them. 
Their  remains  have  been  found  from  the  western  coast  of 
Asia  Minor  eastward  to  the  plains  of  Syria  and  the  Euphra- 
tes, and  southward  as  far  as  Hamath.  They  were  a  non- 
Semitic  people,  or  rather  peoples,  of  uncertain  racial  affini- 
ties, but  evidently  distinct  from,  and  preceding,  the  Indo- 
Germanic  influx  after  1200  B.  C.  which  brought  in  the  Phryg- 
ians (see  p.  478).  As  shown  on  the  Egyptian  monuments, 
they  are  beardless,  with  long  hair  hanging  in  two  prominent 
locks  before  their  ears  and  dropping  to  the  shoulders;  but 
their  own  native  monuments  often  give  them  a  heavy  beard 
(Fig.  146).  On  the  head  they  most  often  wore  tall  pointed 
caps  like  a  sugar-loaf  hat,  but  with  little  brim.  As  their  cli- 
mate demands,  they  wear  heavy  woollen  clothing,  usually  in 
a  long,  close-fitting  garment,  depending  from  the  shoulders 
and  reaching  to  the  knees  or  sometimes  the  ankles;  while 
the  feet  are  shod  in  high  boots  turned  up  at  the  toes.  They 
possessed  a  crude,  but  by  no  means  primitive,  art  which 
produced  very  creditable  monuments  in  stone  (Figs.  145-6) 
still  scattered  over  the  hills  of  Asia  Minor.  Their  skill  in 
the  practical  arts  was  considerable,  and  they  produced  a 
red  figured  pottery  above  mentioned  which  was  disseminated 
in  trade  from  the  centre  of  its  manufacture  in  Cappadocia 
to  the  iEgean  on  the  west,  and  eastward  through  Syria  and 
Palestine  to  Lachish  and  Gezer  on  the  south.  Already  by 
2000  B.  C.  we  remember  it  had  perhaps  reached  the  latter 
place.  They  were  masters  of  the  art  of  writing,  and  the  king 
had  his  personal  scribe  ever  with  him.1  Their  pictographic 
records  are  still  in  course  of  decipherment,  and  enough 
progress  has  not  yet  been  made  to  enable  the  scholar  to  do 
more  than  recognize  a  word  here  and  there.  For  corre- 
spondence they  employed  the  Babylonian  cuneiform  and 
must  therefore  have  maintained  scribes  and  interpreters 
who  were  masters  of  Babylonian  speech  and  writing. 
Large  quantities  of  cuneiform  tablets  in  the  Hittite  tongue 
have  been  found  at  Boghaz-koi  (see  below).    In  war  they 

i  III,  337. 


THE  DISSOLUTION  OF  THE  EMPIRE  381 


were  formidable  opponents.  The  infantry,  among  which 
foreign  mercenaries  were  plentiful,  bore  bow  and  arrows, 
sword  and  spear  and  often  an  axe.  They  fought  in  close 
phalanx  formation,  very  effective  at  close  quarters;  but 
their  chief  power  consisted  of  chariotry.  The  chariot  itself 
was  more  heavily  built  than  in  Egypt,  as  it  bore  three  men, 
driver,  bowman  and  shield-bearer,  while  the  Egyptian  dis- 
dispensed  with  the  third  man.  One  of  the  Hittite  dynasts 
had  consolidated  a  kingdom  beyond  the  Amanus,  which 
Thutmose  III  regularly  called  ' 'Great  Kheta,"  as  prob- 
ably distinguished  from  the  less  important  independent 
Hittite  princes.  His  capital  was  a  great  fortified  city 
called  "Khatti"  (identified  in  1907),  situated  at  modern 
Boghaz-koi,  east  of  Angora  and  the  Halys  (Kisil-irmak) 
river  in  eastern  Asia  Minor.  Active  trade  and  inter- 
course between  this  kingdom  and  Egypt  had  been  car- 
ried on  from  that  time  or  began  not  long  after.1  This 
reached  such  proportions  that  the  king  of  Cyprus  was 
apprehensive  lest  too  close  relations  between  Egypt  and  the 
Hittite  kingdom  ("Great  Kheta")  might  endanger  his  own 
position.2  When  Ikhnaton  ascended  the  throne  Seplel,  the 
king  of  the  Hittites,  wrote  him  a  letter  of  congratulation, 
and  to  all  appearances  had  only  the  friendliest  intentions 
toward  Egypt.3  For  the  first  invasions  of  the  most  advanced 
Hittites,  like  that  which  Dushratta  of  Mitanni  repulsed,  he 
may  indeed  not  have  been  responsible.  Even  after 
Ikhnaton 's  removal  to  Akhetaton,  his  new  capital,  a  Hittite 
embassy  appeared  there  with  gifts  and  greetings.4  But 
Ikhnaton  must  have  regarded  the  old  relations  as  no  longer 
desirable,  for  the  Hittite  king  asks  him  why  he  has  ceased 
the  correspondence  5  which  his  father  had  maintained.  If 
he  realized  the  situation,  Ikhnaton  had  good  reason  indeed 
for  abandoning  the  connection;  for  the  Hittite  empire  now 
stood  on  the  northern  threshold  of  Syria,  the  most  for- 
midable enemy  which  had  ever  confronted  Egypt,  and  the 
greatest  power  in  Asia.    It  is  doubtful  whether  Ikhnaton 


1  Amarna  Letters,  35. 

a  Ibid.,  35.  *II,  981. 


«  Ibid.,  25,  49  f. 

6  Amarna  Letters,  35,  14  f. 


382 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


could  have  withstood  the  masses  of  Asia  Minor  which  were 
now  shifting  southward  into  Syria  even  if  he  had  made  a 
serious  effort  to  do  so;  but  no  such  effort  was  made.  Im- 
mediately on  his  accession  the  disaffected  dynasts  who  had 
been  temporarily  suppressed  by  his  father  resumed  their 
operations  against  the  faithful  vassals  of  Egypt.  One  of 
the  latter,  in  a  later  letter  to  Ikhnaton,  exactly  depicts  the 
situation,  saying:  " Verily,  thy  father  did  not  march  forth, 
nor  inspect  the  lands  of  the  vassal-princes.  .  .  .  And  when 
thou  ascendedst  the  throne  of  thy  father's  house,  Abd- 
ashirta's  sons  took  the  king's  land  for  themselves.  Creat- 
ures of  the  king  of  Mitanni  are  they,  and  of  the  king  ol 
Babylon,  and  of  the  king  of  the  Hittites. 9  9 1  With  the 
cooperation  of  the  unfaithful  Egyptian  vassals  Abd-ashirta 
and  his  son  Aziru,  who  were  at  the  head  of  an  Amorite 
kingdom  on  the  upper  Orontes;  together  with  Itakama,  a 
Syrian  prince,  who  had  seized  Kadesh  as  his  kingdom,  the 
Hittites  took  possession  of  Amki,  the  plain  on  the  north 
side  of  the  lower  Orontes,  between  Antioch  and  the  Amanus.2 
Three  faithful  vassal-kings  of  the  vicinity  marched  to  re- 
cover the  Pharaoh's  lost  territory  for  him,  but  were  met  by 
Itakama  at  the  head  of  Hittite  troops  and  driven  back.  All 
three  wrote  immediately  to  the  Pharaoh  of  the  trouble  and 
complained  of  Itakama.3  Aziru  of  Amor  had  meantime 
advanced  upon  the  Phoenician  and  north  Syrian  coast  cities, 
which  he  captured  as  far  as  Ugarit  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Orontes,4  slaying  their  kings  and  appropriating  their 
wealth.5  Simyra  and  Byblos  held  out,  however,  and  as  the 
Hittites  advanced  into  Nukhashshi,  on  the  lower  Orontes, 
Aziru  cooperated  with  them  and  captured  Niy,  whose  king 
he  slew.6  Tunip  was  now  in  such  grave  danger  that  her 
elders  wrote  the  Pharaoh  a  pathetic  letter  beseeching  his 
protection.  ' ' To  the  king  of  Egypt,  my  lord:  — The  inhabi- 
tants of  Tunip  thy  servant.  May  it  be  well  with  thee,  and 
at  the  feet  of  our  lord  we  fall.   My  lord,  Tunip,  thy  servant 

ilbid.,  88.  2  Ibid.,  119,  125.  3  Ibid.,  131-133. 

'Ibid.,  123.  6  Ibid,  86;  119.  8  Ibid.,  120- 


Fig.  147. — EGYPTIAN  OFFICIAL  RECEIVING  SEMITIC  IMMIGRANTS. 
See  p.  388.    Relief  from  the  tomb  of  Harmhab,  p.  408.    (Leyden  Museum.) 


THE  DISSOLUTION  OF  THE  EMPIRE  383 


speaks,  saying :  *  Who  formerly  could  have  plundered  Tunip 
without  being  plundered  by  Manakhbiria  [Thutmose  III] ! 
The  gods  ...  of  the  king  of  Egypt,  my  lord,  dwell  in 
Tunip.  May  our  lord  ask  his  old  men  [if  it  be  not 
so].  Now,  however,  we  belong  no  more  to  our  lord,  the 
king  of  Egypt.  ...  If  his  soldiers  and  chariots  come  too 
late,  Aziru  will  make  us  like  the  city  of  Niy.  If,  however, 
we  have  to  mourn,  the  king  of  Egypt  will  mourn  over  those 
things  which  Aziru  has  done,  for  he  will  turn  his  hand  against 
our  lord.  And  when  Aziru  enters  Simyra,  Aziru  will  do 
to  us  as  he  pleases,  in  the  territory  of  our  lord,  the  king,  and 
on  account  of  these  things  our  lord  will  have  to  lament.  And 
now,  Tunip,  thy  city  weeps,  and  her  tears  are  flowing,  and 
there  is  no  help  for  us.  For  twenty  years  we  have  been 
sending  to  our  lord,  the  king,  the  king  of  Egypt,  but  there 
has  not  come  to  us  a  word,  no  not  one.'  991  The  fears  of 
Tunip  were  soon  realized,  for  Aziru  now  concentrated  upon 
Simyra  and  quickly  brought  it  to  a  state  of  extremity. 

During  all  this,  Rib-Addi,  a  faithful  vassal  of  Byblos, 
where  there  was  an  Egyptian  temple,2  writes  to  the  Pharoah 
in  the  most  urgent  appeals,  stating  what  is  going  on,  and 
asking  for  help  to  drive  away  Aziru 's  people  from  Simyra, 
knowing  full  well  that  if  it  falls  his  own  city  of  Byblos  is 
likewise  doomed.  But  no  help  comes  and  the  Syrian  dynasts 
grow  bolder.  Zimrida  of  Sidon  falls  away  and  makes  terms 
with  Aziru,3  and,  desiring  a  share  of  the  spoils  for  himself, 
moves  against  Tyre,  whose  king,  Abi-milki,  immediately 
writes  to  Egypt  for  aid.4  The  number  of  troops  asked  for 
by  these  vassals  is  absurdly  small,  and  had  it  not  been  for 
the  Hittite  host,  which  was  pressing  south  behind  them,  their 
operations  might  have  caused  Egypt  very  little  anxiety. 
Aziru  now  captured  the  outer  defences  of  Simyra  and  Rib- 
Addi  continued  to  plead  for  assistance  for  his  sister-city, 5 
adding  that  he  himself  had  suffered  from  the  hostility  of 
Amor  for  five  years,  beginning,  as  we  have  seen,  under  Amen- 
hotep  III.    Several  Egyptian  deputies  had  been  charged 

1  Ibid.,  41.     2  See  above,  p.  323.    »  Ibid.,  150.      <  Ibid.,  151.     6  Ibid.,  85. 


MAP  No.  7.    THE  ASIATIC  EMPIRE  OF  EGYPT. 


THE  DISSOLUTION  OF  THE  EMPIRE  385 


with  the  investigation  of  affairs  at  Simyra,  but  they  did  not 
succeed  in  doing  anything,  and  the  city  finally  fell.  Aziru 
had  no  hesitation  in  slaying  the  Egyptian  deputy  resident 
in  the  place,1  and  having  destroyed  it,  was  now  free  to 
move  against  Byblos.  Rib-Addi  wrote  in  horror  of  these 
facts  to  the  Pharaoh,  stating  that  the  Egyptian  deputy,  resi- 
dent in  Kumidi  in  northern  Palestine,  was  now  in  danger. 2 
But  the  wily  Aziru  so  uses  his  friends  at  court  that  he 
escapes.  He  wrote  to  Tutu,  one  of  Ikhnaton 's  court  officials, 
who  interceded  for  him,3  and  he  speciously  excuses  himself 
to  Khai,  the  Egyptian  deputy  in  his  vicinity.4  With  Machia- 
vellian skill  and  cynicism  he  explains  in  letters  to  the 
Pharaoh  that  he  is  unable  to  come  and  give  an  account  of 
himself  at  the  Egyptian  court,  as  he  had  been  commanded 
to  do,  because  the  Hittites  are  in  Xukhashshi,  and  he  fears 
that  Tunip  will  not  be  strong  enough  to  resist  them ! 5  "What 
Tunip  herself  thought  about  his  presence  in  Nukhashshi  we 
have  already  seen.  To  the  Pharaoh's  demand  that  he  imme- 
diately rebuild  Simyra,  which  he  had  destroyed  (as  he 
claimed,  to  prevent  it  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
Hittites),  he  replies  that  he  is  too  hard  pressed  in  defending 
the  king's  cities  in  Xukhashshi  against  the  Hittites;  but  that 
he  will  do  so  within  a  year.6  Ikhnaton  is  reassured  by 
Aziru 's  promises  to  pay  the  same  tribute  as  the  cities  which 
he  has  taken  formerly  paid.7  Such  acknowledgment  of 
Egyptian  suzerainty  by  the  turbulent  dynasts  everywhere 
must  have  left  in  the  Pharaoh  a  feeling  of  security  which  the 
situation  by  no  means  really  justified.  He  therefore  wrote 
Aziru  granting  him  the  year  which  he  had  asked  for  before 
he  appeared  at  court,  but  Aziru  contrived  to  evade  Khani, 
the  Egyptian  bearer  of  the  king's  letter,  which  was  thus 
brought  back  to  Egypt  without  being  delivered.8  It  shows 
the  astonishing  leniency  of  Ikhnaton  in  a  manner  which 
would  indicate  that  he  was  opposed  to  measures  of  force, 
such  as  his  fathers  had  employed.    Aziru  immediately  wrote 

Ubid.,  119;  120.     2  Ibid.,  94.  »  Ibid.,  44-5.  *  Ibid.,  46. 

«Ibid.,  45;  47.        6  Ibid.,  46,  26-34.       7  Ibid,  49,  36-40.       8  Ibid.,  50. 

25 


386 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


to  the  king  expressing  his  regret  that  an  expedition  against 
the  Hittites  in  the  north  had  deprived  him  of  the  pleasure 
of  meeting  the  Pharaoh's  envoy,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he 
had  made  all  haste  homeward  as  soon  as  he  had  heard  of 
his  coming !  The  usual  excuse  for  not  rebuilding  Simyra  is 
offered.1 

During  all  this  time  Rib-Addi  is  in  sore  straits  in  Byblos, 
and  sends  dispatch  after  dispatch  to  the  Egyptian  court, 
appealing  for  aid  against  Aziru.  The  claims  of  the  hos- 
tile dynasts,  however,  are  so  skilfully  made  that  the  resi- 
dent Egyptian  deputies  actually  do  not  seem  to  know  who 
are  the  faithful  vassals  and  who  the  secretly  rebellious. 
Thus  Bikhuru,  the  Egyptian  deputy  in  Galilee,  not  under- 
standing the  situation  in  Byblos,  sent  his  Beduin  merce- 
naries thither,  where  they  slew  all  of  Rib-Addi 's  Sherden 
garrison.  The  unhappy  Rib-Addi  was  now  at  the  mercy  of 
his  foes  and  he  sent  off  two  dispatches  beseeching  the 
Pharaoh  to  take  notice  of  his  pitiful  plight;2  while,  to  make 
matters  worse,  the  city  raised  an  insurrection  against  him3 
because  of  the  wanton  act  of  the  Egyptian  resident.  He  has 
now  sustained  the  siege  for  three  years,  he  is  old  and  bur- 
dened with  disease ; 4  fleeing  to  Beriit  to  secure  help  from  the 
Egyptian  deputy  there,  he  returns  to  Byblos  to  find  the  city 
closed  against  him,  his  brother  having  seized  the  government 
in  his  absence  and  delivered  his  children  to  Aziru.5  As 
Berut  itself  is  soon  attacked  and  falls,  he  forsakes  it,  again 
returns  to  Byblos  and  in  some  way  regains  control  and  holds 
the  place  for  a  while  longer.6  Although  Aziru,  his  enemy, 
was  obliged  to  appear  at  court  and  finally  did  so,  no  relief 
came  for  the  despairing  Rib-Addi.  All  the  cities  of  the  coast 
were  held  by  his  enemies  and  their  ships  commanded  the  sea, 
so  that  provisions  and  reinforcements  could  not  reach  him. 7 
His  wife  and  family  urge  him  to  abandon  Egypt  and  join 
Aziru 's  party,  but  still  he  is  faithful  to  the  Pharaoh  and  asks 
for  three  hundred  men  to  undertake  the  recovery  of  Berut, 
and  thus  gain  a  little  room.8    The  Hittites  are  plundering 

ilbid.,  51.  2  ibid.,  77;  100.  s  Ibid.,  100.  *  Ibid.,  71,  23. 

s  Ibid.,  96.  «Ibid.,  65;  67.  'Ibid.,  104.  "Ibid.,  68. 


THE  DISSOLUTION  OF  THE  EMPIRE  387 


his  territory  and  the  Khabiri,  or  Beduin  mercenaries  of  his 
enemy  Aziru,  swarm  under  his  walls ;*  his  dispatches  to  the 
court  soon  cease,  his  city  of  course  fell,  he  was  probably 
slain  like  the  kings  of  the 'other  coast  cities,  and  in  him  the 
last  vassal  of  Egypt  in  the  north  had  perished. 

Similar  conditions  prevailed  in  the  south,  where  the 
advance  of  the  Khabiri,  the  Aramaean  Semites,  may  be  com- 
pared with  that  of  the  Hittites  in  the  north.  Knots  of  their 
warriors  are  now  appearing  everywhere  and  taking  service 
as  mercenary  troops  under  the  dynasts.  As  we  have  seen, 
Aziru  employed  them  against  Rib-Addi  at  Byblos,  but  the 
other  side,  that  is,  the  faithful  vassals,  engaged  them  also, 
so  that  the  traitor,  Itakama,  wrote  to  the  Pharaoh  and 
accused  his  vassals  of  giving  over  the  territory  of  Kadesh 
and  Damascus  to  the  Khabiri.2  Under  various  adventurers 
the  Khabiri  are  frequently  the  real  masters,  and  Palestinian 
cities  like  Megiddo,  Askalon  and  Gezer  write  to  the  Pharaoh 
for  succour  against  them.  The  last  named  city,  together  with 
Askalon  and  Lachish,  united  against  Abdkhiba,  the  Egyp- 
tian deputy  in  Jerusalem,  already  at  this  time  an  important 
stronghold  of  southern  Palestine,  and  the  faithful  officer 
sends  urgent  dispatches  to  Ikhnaton  explaining  the  danger 
and  appealing  for  aid  against  the  Khabiri  and  their  leaders.3 
Under  his  very  gates,  at  Ajalon,  the  caravans  of  the  king 
were  plundered.4  "The  king's  whole  land,"  wrote  he, 
"which  has  begun  hostilities  with  me,  will  be  lost.  Behold 
the  territory  of  Shiri  [Seir]  as  far  as  Ginti-Kirmil  [Car- 
mel],— its  princes  are  wholly  lost,  and  hostility  prevails 
against  me.  ...  As  long  as  ships  were  upon  the  sea,  the 
strong  arm  of  the  king  occupied  Naharin  and  Kash,  but  now 
the  Khabiri  are  occupying  the  king's  cities.  There  remains 
not  one  prince  to  my  lord,  the  king,  every  one  is  ruined.  .  .  . 
Let  the  king  take  care  of  his  land  and  ...  let  him  send 
troops.  .  .  .  For  if  no  troops  come  in  this  year,  the  whole 
territory  of  my  lord  the  king  will  perish.  ...  If  there  are 
no  troops  in  this  year,  let  the  king  send  his  officer  to  fetch 

i  Ibid.,  102;  104.       2  Ibid.,  146.      >  Ibid.,  179-185.      *  Ibid.,  180,  55  f. 


388 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


me  and  my  brothers,  that  we  may  die  with  our  lord,  the 
king."1  Abdkhiba  was  well  acquainted  with  Ikhnaton's 
cuneiform  scribe,  and  he  adds  to  several  of  his  dispatches  a 
postscript  addressed  to  his  friend  in  which  the  urgent  sin- 
cerity of  the  man  is  evident :  uTo  the  scribe  of  my  lord,  the 
king,  Abdkhiba  thy  servant.  Bring  these  words  plainly 
before  my  lord  the  king:  "The  whole  land  of  my  lord, 
the  king,  is  going  to  ruin.,  "2  Fleeing  in  terror  before 
the  Khabiri,  who  burned  the  towns  and  laid  waste  the  fields, 
many  of  the  Palestinians  forsook  their  towns  and  took 
to  the  hills,  or  sought  refuge  in  Egypt,  where  the  Egyptian 
officer  in  charge  of  some  of  them  said  of  them:  "They 
have  been  destroyed  and  their  town  laid  waste,  and  fire 
has  been  thrown  [into  their  grain!].  .  .  .  Their  coun- 
tries are  starving,  they  live  like  goats  of  the  mountain. 
.  .  .  A  few  of  the  Asiatics,  who  knew  not  how  they  should 
live,  have  come  [begging  a  home  in  the  domain!]  of 
Pharaoh,  after  the  manner  of  your  father's  fathers  since 
the  beginning.  .  .  .  Now  the  Pharaoh  gives  them  into  your 
hand  to  protect  their  borders"3  (Fig.  147).  The  task  of 
those  to  whom  the  last  words  are  addressed  was  hopeless 
indeed,  for  the  general,  Bikhuru,  whom  Ikhnaton  sent  to 
restore  order  and  suppress  the  Khabiri  was  entirely  unable 
to  accomplish  anything.  As  we  have  seen,  he  misunderstood 
the  situation  totally  in  Rib-Addi's  case,  and  dispatched  his 
Beduin  auxiliaries  against  him.  He  advanced  as  far  north 
as  Kumidi,  north  of  Galilee,  but  retreated  as  Rib-Addi  had 
foreseen  he  would  ;4  he  was  for  a  time  in  Jerusalem,  but  fell 
back  to  Gaza;5  and  in  all  probability  was  finally  slain.6 
Both  in  Syria  and  Palestine  the  provinces  of  the  Pharaoh 
had  gradually  passed  entirely  out  of  Egyptian  control,  and 
in  the  south  a  state  of  complete  anarchy  had  resulted,  in 
which  the  hopeless  Egyptian  party  at  last  gave  up  any 
attempt  to  maintain  the  authority  of  the  Pharaoh,  and  those 
who  had  not  perished  joined  the  enemy.    The  caravans  of 

lAmarna  Letters,  181.  3  Ibid.,  179.  »  HI,  11. 

*  Amarna  Letters,  94.  *  Ibid.,  182.  ■  Ibid.,  97. 


THE  DISSOLUTION  OF  THE  EMPIRE  389 


Burraburyash  of  Babylonia  were  plundered  by  the  king  of 
Akko  and  a  neighbouring  confederate,  and  Burraburyash 
wrote  peremptorily  demanding  that  the  loss  be  made  good 
and  the  guilty  punished,  lest  his  trade  with  Egypt  become  a 
constant  prey  of  such  marauding  dynasts.1  But  what  he 
feared  had  come  to  pass,  and  the  Egyptian  Empire  in  Asia 
was  for  the  time  at  an  end. 

Ikhnaton's  faithful  vassals  had  showered  dispatches  upon 
him,  had  sent  special  ambassadors,  sons  and  brothers  to  rep- 
resent to  him  the  seriousness  of  the  situation ;  but  they  had 
either  received  no  replies  at  all,  or  an  Egyptian  commander 
with  an  entirely  inadequate  force  was  dispatched  to  make 
futile  and  desultory  attempts  to  deal  with  a  situation  which 
demanded  the  Pharaoh  himself  and  the  whole  available  army 
of  Egypt.  At  Akhetaton,  the  new  and  beautiful  capital,  the 
splendid  temple  of  Aton  resounded  with  hymns  to  the  new 
god  of  the  Empire,  while  the  Empire  itself  was  no  more. 
The  tribute  of  Ikhnaton's  twelfth  year  was  received  at  Akhe- 
taton as  usual,  and  the  king,  borne  in  his  sedan-chair  on  the 
shoulders  of  eighteen  soldiers,  went  forth  to  receive  it  in 
gorgeous  state.2  The  habit  of  generations  and  a  fast  van- 
ishing apprehension  lest  the  Pharaoh  might  appear  in  Syria 
with  his  army,  still  prompted  a  few  sporadic  letters  from  the 
dynasts,  assuring  him  of  their  loyalty,  which  perhaps  con- 
tinued in  the  mind  of  Ikhnaton  the  illusion  that  he  was  still 
lord  of  Asia. 

The  storm  which  had  broken  over  his  Asiatic  empire  was 
not  more  disastrous  than  that  which  threatened  the  fortunes 
of  his  house  in  Egypt.  But  he  was  as  steadfast  as  before 
in  the  propagation  of  his  new  faith.  At  his  command  tem- 
ples of  Aton  had  now  arisen  all  over  the  land.  Besides  the 
Aton-sanctuary  which  he  had  at  first  built  at  Thebes,  three 
at  least  in  Akhetaton  and  Gem- Aton  in  Nubia,  he  built  others 
at  Heliopolis,  Memphis,  Hermopolis,  Hermonthis  and  in  the 
Fayum.3    He  devoted  himself  to  the  elaboration  of  the 

1  Amarna  Letters,  1 1.  *  II,  1014-15. 

3  II,  1017-18;  see  my  remarks  Zeitschrift  fur  Aegyptische  Sprache,  40,  110- 
113. 


390 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


temple  ritual  and  the  tendency  to  theologize  somewhat 
dimmed  the  earlier  freshness  of  the  hymns  to  the  god.  His 
name  was  now  changed  and  the  qualifying  phrase  at  the 
end  of  it  was  altered  from  "Heat  which  is  in  Aton"  to  "Fire 
which  comes  from  Atom"  Meantime  the  national  convul- 
sion which  his  revolution  had  precipitated  was  producing 
the  most  disastrous  consequences  throughout  the  land.  The 
Aton-faith  disregarded  some  of  the  most  cherished  beliefs 
of  the  people,  especially  those  regarding  the  hereafter. 
Osiris,  their  old  time  protector  and  friend  in  the  world  of 
darkness,  was  taken  from  them  and  the  magical  parapher- 
nalia which  were  to  protect  them  from  a  thousand  foes  were 
gone.  Some  of  them  tried  to  put  Aton  into  their  old  usages, 
but  he  was  not  a  folk-god,  who  lived  out  in  yonder  tree  or 
spring,  and  he  was  too  far  from  their  homely  round  of  daily 
needs  to  touch  their  lives.  The  people  could  understand 
nothing  of  the  refinements  involved  in  the  new  faith.  They 
only  knew  that  the  worship  of  the  old  gods  had  been  inter- 
dicted and  a  strange  deity  of  whom  they  had  no  knowledge 
and  could  gain  none  was  forced  upon  them.  Such  a  decree 
of  the  state  could  have  had  no  more  effect  upon  their  prac- 
tical worship  in  the  end  than  did  that  of  Theodosius  when 
he  banished  the  old  gods  of  Egypt  in  favour  of  Christianity 
eighteen  hundred  years  after  Ikhnaton's  revolution.  For 
centuries  after  the  death  of  Theodosius  the  old  so-called 
pagan  gods  continued  to  be  worshipped  by  the  people  in 
Upper  Egypt;  for  in  the  course  of  such  attempted  changes 
in  the  customs  and  traditional  faith  of  a  whole  people,  the 
span  of  one  man's  life  is  insignificant  indeed.  The  Aton- 
faith  remained  but  the  cherished  theory  of  the  idealist, 
Ikhnaton,  and  a  little  circle  which  formed  his  court ;  it  never 
really  became  the  religion  of  the  people. 

Added  to  the  secret  resentment  and  opposition  of  the  peo- 
ple, we  must  consider  also  a  far  more  dangerous  force,  the 
hatred  of  the  old  priesthoods,  particularly  that  of  Amon. 
At  Thebes  there  were  eight  great  temples  of  this  god  stand- 
ing idle  and  forsaken ;  his  vast  fortune,  embracing  towns  in 


Fig.  149.— SOUTHERN  PYLONS  OF  HARM  HAH  AT  KARNAK. 
Looking  southwestward  across  the  temple  lake. 


Fig.   150.— HARMHAB  AS  A  PEASANT 
IN  THE  HEREAFTER. 

Relief  from  his  tomb,  showing  later  insertion 
of  the  royal  serpent  on  his  forehead. 
(Bologna  Museum.) 


Fig.  151.— BUST  OF  KHONSU. 

End  of  the  Eighteenth  or  early  in  the  Nineteenth 
Dynasty.    (Cairo  Museum.) 


THE  DISSOLUTION  OF  THE   EMPIRE  391 


Syria  and  extensive  lands  in  Egypt,  had  evidently  been  con- 
fiscated and  probably  diverted  to  Aton.  There  could  not 
but  be,  and,  as  the  result  shows,  there  was,  during  all  of 
Ikhnaton 's  reign  a  powerful  priestly  party  which  openly 
or  secretly  did  all  in  its  power  to  undermine  him.  The 
neglect  and  loss  of  the  Asiatic  empire  must  have  turned 
against  the  king  many  a  strong  man,  and  aroused  indigna- 
tion among  those  whose  grandfathers  had  served  under 
Thutmose  III.  The  memory  of  what  had  been  done  in  those 
glorious  days  must  have  been  sufficiently  strong  to  fire  the 
hearts  of  the  military  class  and  set  them  looking  for  a  leader 
who  would  recover  what  had  been  lost.  Ikhnaton  might 
appoint  one  of  his  favourites  to  the  command  of  the  army, 
as  we  have  seen  he  did,  but  his  ideal  aims  and  his  high 
motives  for  peace  would  be  as  unpopular  as  they  were  unin- 
telligible to  his  commanders.  One  such  man,  an  officer 
named  Harmhab,1  was  now  in  the  service  of  Ikhnaton  and 
enjoying  the  royal  favour;  he  contrived  not  only  to  win  the 
support  of  the  military  class,  but,  as  we  shall  later  see, 
he  also  gained  the  favour  of  the  priests  of  Amon,  who  were 
of  course  looking  for  some  one  who  could  bring  them  the 
opportunity  they  coveted.  At  every  point  Ikhnaton  had 
offended  against  the  cherished  traditions  of  a  whole  people. 
Thus  both  the  people  and  the  priestly  and  military  classes 
alike  were  fomenting  plans  to  overthrow  the  hated  dreamer 
in  the  palace  of  the  Pharaohs,  of  whose  thoughts  they  under- 
stood so  little.  To  increase  his  danger,  fortune  had  decreed 
him  no  son,  and  he  was  obliged  to  depend  for  support  as 
the  years  passed  upon  his  son-in-law,  a  noble  named  Sakere, 
who  had  married  his  eldest  daughter,  Meritaton,  "  Beloved 
of  Aton."  Ikhnaton  had  probably  never  been  physically 
strong;  his  spare  face,  with  the  lines  of  an  ascetic,  shows 
increasing  traces  of  the  cares  which  weighed  so  heavily  upon 
him.  He  finally  nominated  Sakere  as  his  successor  and 
appointed  him  at  the  same  time  coregent.  He  survived  but 
a  short  time  after  this,  and  about  1358  B.  C,  having  reigned 

i  III,  22  ff. 


392 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


some  seventeen  years,  he  succumbed  to  the  overwhelming 
forces  that  were  against  him.  In  a  lonely  valley  some  miles 
to  the  east  of  his  city  he  was  buried  in  a  tomb  which  he  had 
excavated  in  the  rock  for  himself  and  family,  and  where  his 
second  daughter,  Meketaton,  already  rested. 

Thus  disappeared  the  most  remarkable  figure  in  earlier 
oriental  history.  To  his  own  nation  he  was  afterward  known 
as  "the  criminal  of  Akhetaton";1  but  for  us,  however  much 
we  may  censure  him  for  the  loss  of  the  empire,  which  he 
allowed  to  slip  from  his  fingers ;  however  much  we  may  con- 
demn the  fanaticism  with  which  he  pursued  his  aim,  even  to 
the  violation  of  his  own  father  's  name  and  monuments ;  there 
died  with  him  such  a  spirit  as  the  world  had  never  seen 
before,— a  brave  soul,  undauntedly  facing  the  momentum 
of  immemorial  tradition,  and  thereby  stepping  out  from  the 
long  line  of  conventional  and  colourless  Pharaohs,  that  he 
might  disseminate  ideas  far  beyond  and  above  the  capacity 
of  his  age  to  understand.  Among  the  Hebrews,  seven  or 
eight  hundred  years  later,  we  look  for  such  men;  but  the 
modern  world  has  yet  adequately  to  value  or  even  acquaint 
itself  with  this  man,  who  in  an  age  so  remote  and  under  con- 
ditions so  adverse,  became  the  world's  first  idealist  and  the 
world 's  first  individual. 

Sakere  was  quite  unequal  to  the  task  before  him,  and  after 
an  obscure  and  ephemeral  reign  at  Akhetaton  he  disap- 
peared, to  be  followed  by  Tutenkhaton  ("Living  image  of 
Aton"),  another  son-in-law  of  Ikhnaton,  who  had  married 
the  king's  third  daughter,  Enkhosnepaaton  ("She  lives  by 
the  Aton,,).  The  priestly  party  of  Amon  was  now  con- 
stantly growing,  and  although  Tutenkhaton  still  continued 
to  reside  at  Akhetaton,  it  was  not  long  before  he  was  forced 
to  a  compromise  in  order  to  maintain  himself.  He  forsook 
his  father-in-law's  city  and  transferred  the  court  to  Thebes, 
which  had  not  seen  a  Pharaoh  for  twenty  years.  Akhetaton 
maintained  a  precarious  existence  for  a  time,  supported  by 
the  manufactories  of  coloured  glass  and  fayence,  which  had 

1  Inscription  of  Mes, 


THE  DISSOLUTION  OP  THE  EMPIRE 


393 


flourished  there  during  the  reign  of  Ikhnaton.  These  indus- 
tries soon  languished,  the  place  was  gradually  forsaken, 
until  not  a  soul  was  left  in  its  solitary  streets.  The  roofs 
of  the  houses  fell  in,  the  walls  tottered  and  collapsed,  the 
temples  fell  a  prey  to  the  vengeance  of  the  Theban  party, 
as  we  shall  see,  and  the  once  beautiful  city  of  Aton  was 
gradually  transformed  into  a  desolate  ruin.  To-day  it  is 
known  as  Tell  el-Amarna,  and  it  still  stands  as  its  enemies, 
time  and  the  priests  of  Amon,  left  it.  One  may  walk  its 
ancient  streets,  where  the  walls  of  the  houses  are  still  sev- 
eral feet  high,  and  strive  to  recall  to  its  forsaken  dwellings 
the  life  of  the  Aton-worshippers  who  once  inhabited  them. 
Here  in  a  low  brick  room,  which  had  served  as  an  archive- 
chamber  for  Ikhnaton 's  foreign  office,  were  found  in  1885 
some  three  hundred  letters  and  dispatches  in  which  we  have 
traced  his  intercourse  and  dealings  with  the  kings  and  rulers 
of  Asia  and  the  gradual  disintegration  of  his  empire  there. 
Here  were  the  more  than  sixty  dispatches  of  the  unfortunate 
Rib-Addi  of  Byblos.  After  the  modern  name  of  the  place, 
the  whole  correspondence  is  generally  called  the  Tell 
el-Amarna  letters.  All  the  other  Aton-cities  likewise  per- 
ished utterly;  but  Gem-Aton  in  distant  Nubia  escaped. 
Long  afterward  its  Aton  temple  became  a  temple  of  4  4  Amon, 
Lord  of  Gem-Aton,"  and  thus  in  far-off  Nubia  the  ruins 
of  the  earliest  temple  of  monotheism  still  stand.1 

On  reaching  Thebes,  Tutenkhaton  continued  the  worship 
of  Aton  and  made  some  enlargement  or  at  least  repairs  of 
the  Aton-temple  there;  but  he  was  obliged  by  the  priests 
of  Amon  to  permit  the  resumption  of  Amon-worship.  In- 
deed he  was  constrained  to  restore  the  old  festal  calendar 
of  Karnak  and  Luxor;  he  himself  conducted  the  first  " feast 
of  Opet,"  the  greatest  of  all  the  festivals  of  Amon,  and 
restored  the  temples  there.2  Expediency  also  obliged  him 
to  begin  restoring  the  disfigured  name  of  Amon,  expunged 
from  the  monuments  by  Ikhnaton,  and  his  restorations  are 
found  as  far  south  as  Soleb  in  Nubia.5    He  was  then  forced 

1  See  reference,  p.  384,  note  1. 

»  Luxor  reliefs,  ibid.,  34,  135.  '  II,  896. 


394 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


to  another  serious  concession  to  the  priests  of  Anion;  he 
changed  his  name  to  Tutenkhamon.  6 '  Living  image  of 
Amon,"  showing  that  he  was  now  completely  in  the  hands 
of  the  priestly  party.1 

The  empire  which  he  ruled  was  still  no  mean  one,  ex- 
tending as  it  did  from  the  Delta  of  the  Nile  to  the  fourth 
cataract.  The  Nubian  province  under  the  viceroy  was  now 
thoroughly  Egyptianized,  and  the  native  chiefs  wore  Egyp- 
tian clothing,  assumed  since  Thutmose  Ill's  time.2  The 
revolution  in  Egypt  had  not  affected  Nubia  seriously,  and 
it  continued  to  pay  its  annual  dues  into  the  Pharaoh 's  treas- 
ury.3 He  also  received  tribute  from  the  north  which,  as 
his  viceroy  of  Kush,  Huy  claimed,4  came  from  Syria.  Al- 
though this  is  probably  in  some  degree  an  exaggeration  in 
view  of  our  information  from  the  Amarna  letters;  yet  one 
of  Ikhnaton's  successors  fought  a  battle  in  Asia,  and  this 
can  hardly  have  been  any  other  than  Tutenkhaton.5  He 
may  thus  have  recovered  sufficient  power  in  Palestine  to 
collect  some  tribute  or  at  least  some  spoil,  which  fact  may 
then  have  been  interpreted  to  include  Syria  also.  Tuten- 
khaton soon  disappeared  and  was  succeeded  by  another  of 
the  worthies  of  the  Akhetaton  court,  Eye,  who  had  married 
Ikhnaton's  nurse,  Tiy,  and  had  excavated  for  himself  a 
tomb  at  Akhetaton,  from  which  came  the  great  Aton-hymn 
which  we  have  already  read.  He  was  sufficiently  imbued 
with  Ikhnaton's  ideas  to  hold  his  own  for  a  short  time 
against  the  priests  of  Amon;  and  he  built  to  some  extent 
on  the  Aton-temple  at  Thebes.  He  abandoned  his  tomb  at 
Akhetaton  and  excavated  another  in  the  Valley  of  the  Kings ' 
Tombs  at  Thebes.  He  soon  had  need  of  it,  for  ere  long  he 
too  passed  away  and  it  would  appear  that  one  or  two  other 
ephemeral  pretenders  gained  the  ascendancy  either  now  or 
before  his  accession.  Anarchy  ensued.  Thebes  was  a  prey 
of  plundering  bands,  who  forced  their  way  into  the  royal 
tombs  and  as  we  now  know  robbed  the  tomb  of  Thutmose 
IV.6  The  prestige  of  the  old  Theban  family  which  had  been 

ill,  1019.  2  IT,  1035.  3  TT,  1034  ff. 

*II,  1027  ff.  5  III,  20,  11.  2,  5  and  8.  6  III,  32  A  flf. 


THE  DISSOLUTION  OF  THE  EMPIRE 


395 


dominant  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years ;  the  family  which 
two  hundred  and  thirty  years  before  had  cast  out  the 
Hyksos  and  built  the  greatest  empire  the  east  had  ever 
seen,  was  now  totally  eclipsed.  The  illustrious  name  which 
it  had  won  was  no  longer  a  sufficient  influence  to  enable  its 
decadent  descendants  to  hold  the  throne,  and  the  Eighteenth 
Dynasty  had  thus  slowly  declined  to  its  end  about  1350  B.  C. 
Manetho  places  Harmhab,  the  restorer,  who  now  gained  the 
throne,  at  the  close  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty;  but  in  so 
far  as  we  know  he  was  not  of  royal  blood  nor  any  kin  of 
the  now  fallen  house.  He  marks  the  restoration  of  Amon, 
the  resumption  of  the  old  order  and  the  beginning  of  a 
new  epoch. 


BOOK  VI 
THE  EMPIRE:  SECOND  PERIOD 


CHAPTER  XX 


THE   TRIUMPH   OF   AMON   AND   THE  REORGANIZATION 
OF  THE  EMPIRE 

We  have  already  noticed  that  in  the  service  of  Ikhnaton 
there  had  been  an  able  organizer  and  skilful  man  of  affairs 
quite  after  the  manner  of  Thutmose  III.  Harmhab,  as  he 
was  called,  belonged  to  an  old  family  once  nomarchs  of 
Alabastronpolis  ;*  he  had  been  entrusted  with  important 
missions  and  rewarded  with  the  gold  of  distinguished  ser- 
vice 2  (Fig.  148).  He  had  in  charge  the  fugitive  Asiatics 
who  fled  from  Palestine  into  Egypt  before  the  Khabiri,3  and 
he  dispatched  some  of  the  officials  who  went  out  at  that  time 
to  restore  order  there.  Under  Ikhnaton  or  his  successors 
he  had  been  sent  on  a  commission  to  the  south  in  connection 
with  the  tribute,4  and  in  this  as  in  all  his  other  duties  he 
showed  himself  a  man  of  resourcefulness  and  ability.  He 
had  served  with  distinction  on  a  campaign  with  one  of 
Ikhnaton 's  successors  in  Asia,  probably  Tutenkhaton  ;5  and 
during  the  precarious  times  incident  to  the  rapid  succession 
of  weak  kings  following  Ikhnaton 's  death  he  had  skilfully 
maintained  himself  and  gradually  gained  a  position  of  power 
and  influence.  Finally  becoming  commander-in-chief  of  the 
army,  and  chief  councillor  in  the  palace,  he  called  himself 
"  greatest  of  the  great,  mightiest  of  the  mighty,  great  lord 
of  the  people,  king's-messenger  at  the  head  of  his  army  to 
the  South  and  the  North;  chosen  of  the  king,  presider  over 
the  Two  Lands,  in  order  to  carry  on  the  administration  of 
the  Two  Lands ;  general  of  generals  of  the  Lord  of  the  Two 
Lands. ' 9 6  Such  titles  no  officer  under  the  king  had  ever 
borne.    Under  what  ruler  he  thus  served  is  not  certain, 

1  HI,  27.  2  III,  5-9.  a  III,  10-12. 

*  III,  13.  6  III,  20.  « Ibid. 

399 


400 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


but  whoever  he  was  such  power  in  the  hands  of  a  subject 
must  necessarily  have  endangered  his  throne.  Harmhab 
was  now  the  real  power  of  the  throne;  for  the  king  "ap- 
pointed him  to  be  chief  of  the  land,  to  administer  the  laws 
of  the  Two  Lands  as  hereditary  prince  of  all  this  land.  He 
was  alone  without  a  rival.  .  .  .  The  council  bowed  down 
to  him  in  obeisance  at  the  front  of  the  palace,  the  chiefs  of 
the  Nine  Bows  [foreign  peoples]  came  to  him,  South  as 
well  as  North ;  their  hands  were  spread  out  in  his  presence, 
they  offered  praise  to  him  as  to  a  god.  All  that  was  done  was 
done  under  his  command.  .  .  .  When  he  came  the  fear  of 
him  was  great  in  the  sight  of  the  people;  ' prosperity  and 
health'  [the  royal  greeting]  were  craved  for  him;  he  was 
greeted  as  'Father  of  the  Two  Lands.'  "  1  This  continued 
for  some  years,2  until  1350  B.  C,  when  he  was  in  effect  king, 
and  the  next  step  was  but  to  receive  the  titles  and  insignia 
of  royalty.  He  had  the  army  behind  him  and  he  had  won 
the  support  of  the  priesthood  of  Amon  at  Thebes;  it  was 
only  necessary  to  proceed  thither  to  be  recognized  as  the 
ruling  Pharaoh;  or  as  the  piously  veiled  language  of  his 
own  record  states  it:  "Now  when  many  days  had  passed 
by,  while  the  eldest  son  of  Horus  [Harmhab]  was  chief 
and  hereditary  prince  in  this  whole  land,  behold  the  heart  of 
this  august  god,  Horus,  lord  of  Alabastronpolis,  desired  to 
establish  his  son  upon  his  eternal  throne.  .  .  .  Horus  pro- 
ceeded with  rejoicing  to  Thebes  .  .  .  and  with  his  son  in 
his  embrace,  to  Karnak,  to  introduce  him  before  Amon,  to 
assign  to  him  his  office  of  king."  3  He  arrived  just  as  the 
Theban  priests  were  celebrating  the  great  feast  of  Opet,  at 
which  the  image  of  Amon  at  Karnak  was  carried  to  Luxor  ;4 
and  here  Harmhab  now  appeared.  As  the  priests  of  Amon 
had  once  recognized  Thutmose  III  as  king,  so  now  the 
oracle  of  the  god  was  not  wanting  in  confirming  their 
choice.  But  the  new  Pharaoh  must  possess  some  legal 
claim  to  the  crown  and  this  too  was  forthcoming;  for  after 
the  oracle  of  Amon  had  declared  him  the  son  of  Re  and 

*  III,  25-26.  2  III,  26,  I.  9.  ■  III,  27.  *  Ibid. 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  EMPIRE  401 


heir  to  the  kingdom,  Harrahab  proceeded  to  the  palace  and 
was  joined  in  marriage  to  the  princess  Mutnezmet,  the  sister 
of  Ikhnaton's  queen,  Nefer  nefru  aton.  Although  she  was 
advanced  in  years,  she  was  "Divine  Consort,"  or  high 
priestess  of  Amon  and  a  princess  of  the  royal  line,  and  that 
was  sufficient  to  make  Harmhab's  accession  quite  legal.1 
The  palace  where  this  ceremony  took  place  was  in  Luxor, 
and  as  the  image  of  Amon  was  carried  back  to  Karnak  the 
priests  bore  it  to  the  palace  where  Harmhab's  accession 
was  again  recognized  by  the  god.2  His  royal  titulary  was 
now  published3  and  the  new  reign  began. 

The  energy  which  had  brought  Harmhab  his  exalted  office 
was  immediately  evident  in  his  administration  of  it.  He  was 
untiring  in  restoring  to  the  land  the  orderly  organization 
which  it  had  once  enjoyed.  After  remaining  at  least  two 
months  at  Thebes  adjusting  his  affairs  there  and  further 
conciliating  the  priestly  party  by  his  attendance  at  the  re- 
ligious feasts,4  he  sailed  for  the  north  to  continue  this  work. 
"His  majesty  sailed  down  stream.  .  .  .  He  organized  this 
land,  he  adjusted  it  according  to  the  time  of  Re"5  [as  when 
the  sun-god  was  Pharaoh].  At  the  same  time  he  did  not 
forget  the  temples,  which  had  been  closed  so  long  under  the 
Aton  regime.  "He  restored  the  temples  from  the  pools  of 
the  Delta  marshes  to  Nubia.  He  shaped  all  their  images  in 
number  more  than  before,  increasing  the  beauty  in  that 
which  he  made.  .  .  .  He  raised  up  their  temples ;  he  fash- 
ioned a  hundred  images  with  all  their  bodies  correct  and 
with  all  splendid  costly  stones.  He  sought  the  precincts  of 
the  gods  which  were  in  the  districts  in  this  land ;  he  fur- 
nished them  as  they  had  been  since  the  time  of  the  first 
beginning.  He  established  for  them  daily  offerings  every 
day.  All  the  vessels  of  their  temples  were  wrought  of  silver 
and  gold.  He  equipped  them  with  priests  and  with  ritual 
priests  and  with  the  choicest  of  the  army.  He  transferred 
to  them  lands  and  cattle,  supplied  with  all  equipment."6 
Among  other  works  of  this  kind  he  set  up  a  statue  of  him- 

i  III,  28.       «  III,  30.       a  ni.  29.        «  III,  23.        6  III,  31.       6  Ibid. 
26 


402 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


self  and  his  queen  in  the  temple  of  Horus  of  Alabastron- 
polis  on  which  he  frankly  recorded  the  manner  in  which 
he  had  gradually  risen  from  the  rank  of  a  simple  official 
of  the  king  to  the  throne  of  the  Pharaohs.1  Thus  Amon 
received  again  his  old  endowments  and  the  incomes  of  all 
the  disinherited  temples  were  restored.  The  people  resumed 
in  public  the  worship  of  the  innumerable  gods  which  they 
had  practised  in  secret  during  the  supremacy  of  Aton.  The 
sculptors  of  the  king  were  sent  throughout  the  land  con- 
tinuing the  restoration  begun  by  Tutenkhamon,  reinserting 
on  the  monuments  defaced  by  Ikhnaton,  the  names  of  the 
gods  whom  he  had  dishonoured  and  erased.  Over  and  over 
again  appear  in  the  temple  of  Amon  at  Karnak  the  records 
of  such  restoration  by  command  of  Harmhab.  All  this 
must  have  ensured  to  him  the  united  support  of  the  priestly 
party  throughout  the  land.  At  the  same  time,  the  worship 
of  Aton,  while  not  forbidden,  was  in  many  places  suppressed 
by  the  destruction  of  his  sanctuaries.  At  Thebes  Harmhab 
razed  to  the  ground  the  temple  of  Aton  and  used  the  ma- 
terials for  building  two  pylons  (Fig.  149),  extending  the 
temple  of  Amon  on  the  south  ;  and  the  materials  which  he 
left  unused  were  employed  in  similar  works  by  his  succes- 
sors. In  the  ruined  pylons  of  Amon  at  Karnak  to-day  one 
may  pick  out  the  blocks  which  formed  the  sanctuary  of 
Aton,  still  bearing  the  royal  names  of  the  despised  Aton- 
worshippers.2  Harmhab  also  sent  to  Akhetaton  and  carried 
away  the  materials  of  the  Aton  temple  there  which  were 
available  for  his  buildings.  Everywhere  the  name  of  the 
hated  Ikhnaton  was  treated  as  he  had  those  of  the  gods. 
At  Akhetaton  his  tomb  was  wrecked  and  its  reliefs  chiselled 
out ;  while  the  tombs  of  his  nobles  there  were  violated  in  the 
same  way.  Every  effort  was  made  to  annihilate  all  trace  of 
the  reign  of  such  a  man ;  and  when  in  legal  procedure  it  was 
necessary  to  cite  documents  or  enactments  from  his  reign  he 
was  designated  as  ' '  that  criminal  of  Akhetaton. ' ,3 

While   thus  uncompromising  in  his   hostility  to  the 

i  III,  22-32.  *  II,  p.  383,  notes  a,  b.       *  Inscription  of  Mes. 


Fig.  153.— SETI  I  OFFERING  AN  IMAGE  OF  TRUTH  TO  OSIRIS. 
Relief  from  his  temple  at  Abydos.    See  p.  417. 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  EMPIRE  403 


name  and  the  movement  of  Ikhnaton,  and  while  so  deter- 
mined in  his  restoration  of  the  old  order,  Harmhab  did  not 
fail  to  conciliate  wherever  possible.  It  is  probable  that  one 
of  Ikhnaton 's  old  favourites  at  Akhetaton,  named  Paton- 
enihab,  was  appointed  as  High  Priest  of  Heliopolis,  over 
whose  influential  priesthood,  as  the  original  source  of  the 
Aton  movement,  it  was  necessary  to  place  one  of  his  parti- 
sans who  would  second  the  king  in  the  destruction  of 
Ikhnaton 's  monuments  there  and  the  complete  suppression 
of  his  influence.1  The  triumph  of  Amon  was  complete;  as 
the  royal  favourites  of  Ikhnaton  had  once  sung  the  good 
fortune  of  the  disciples  of  Aton,  so  now  Harmhab 's 
courtiers  recognized  clearly  the  change  in  the  wind  of 
fortune,  and  they  sang:  "How  bountiful  are  the  possessions 
of  him  who  knows  the  gifts  of  that  god  (Amon),  the  king 
of  gods.  Wise  is  he  who  knows  him,  favoured  is  he  who 
serves  him,  there  is  protection  for  him  who  follows  him. ? ' 2 
The  priest  of  Amon,  Neferhotep,  who  uttered  these  words, 
was  at  the  moment  receiving  the  richest  tokens  of  the  king's 
favour.3  Such  men  exulted  in  the  overthrow  of  Amon's 
enemies:  "Woe  to  him  who  assails  thee!  Thy  city  endures 
but  he  who  assails  thee  is  overthrown.  Fie  upon  him  who 
sins  against  thee  in  any  land.  .  .  .  The  sun  of  him  who 
knew  thee  not  has  set,  but  he  who  knows  thee  shines.  The 
sanctuary  of  him  who  assailed  thee  is  overwhelmed  in  dark- 
ness, but  the  whole  earth  is  in  light.4 

While  the  process  of  reorganizing  the  priesthoods  was 
but  yielding  to  the  revulsion  which  had  followed  Ikhnaton 's 
revolution,  there  were  other  directions  in  which  the  restora- 
tion of  what  Harmhab  regarded  as  normal  conditions  was  not 
ao  easy.  Gross  laxity  in  the  oversight  of  the  local  administra- 
tion had  characterized  the  reign  of  Ikhnaton  and  his  succes- 
sors ;  and  those  abuses  which  always  arise  under  such  condi- 
tions in  the  orient  had  grown  to  excess.  Everywhere  the 
local  officials,  long  secure  from  close  inspection  on  the  part  of 

1  in,  22.  i  in,  72.  a  III,  71. 

*  Birch,  Inscr.  in  the  Hier.,  XXVI,  see  Erman,  Handbuch. 


404 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


the  central  government,  had  revelled  in  extortions,  practised 
upon  the  long  suffering  masses  until  the  fiscal  and  adminis- 
trative system  was  honey-combed  with  bribery  and  corruption 
of  all  sorts.  To  ameliorate  these  conditions  Harmhab  first 
informed  himself  thoroughly  as  to  the  extent  and  character 
of  the  evils,  and  then  in  his  private  chamber  he  dictated  to 
his  personal  scribe  a  remarkable  series  of  special  and  highly 
particularized  laws  to  suit  every  case  of  which  he  had 
learned. 1  These  laws  were  comprised  in  at  least  nine  para- 
graphs, 2  and  they  were  all  directed  against  the  practice  of 
extortion  upon  the  poor  by  fiscal  and  administrative  officials. 
The  penalties  were  severe.  A  tax-collector  found  guilty 
of  thus  practising  upon  the  poor  man  was  sentenced  to 
have  his  nose  cut  off,  followed  by  banishment  to  Tharu,  the 
desolate  frontier  city  far  out  in  the  sands  of  the  Arabian 
desert  toward  Asia.3  The  military  age  and  the  military 
empire  suffered  from  the  same  abuses  at  the  hands  of 
irresponsible  soldiery,  which  in  the  orient  have  always  ac- 
companied it,  the  common  people  and  the  poor  being  the 
greatest  sufferers.  The  troops  used  in  administration  and 
stationed  in  the  north  and  south  were  accustomed  to  steal 
the  hides  of  the  Pharaoh's  loan-herds  from  the  peasants 
responsible  for  them.  ' '  They  went  out  from  house  to  house 
beating  and  plundering  without  leaving  a  hide. '  H  In  every 
such  demonstrable  case  the  new  law  enacted  that  the  peasant 
should  not  be  held  responsible  for  the  hides  by  the  Pharaoh's 
overseer  of  cattle.  The  guilty  soldier  was  severely  dealt 
with:  "As  for  any  citizen  of  the  army  concerning  whom 
one  shall  hear,  saying:  4 He  goeth  about  stealing  hides'; 
beginning  with  this  day  the  law  shall  be  executed  against 
him  by  beating  him  with  a  hundred  blows,  opening  five 
wounds  and  taking  away  the  hides  which  he  took."6  One 
of  the  greatest  difficulties  connected  with  the  discovery  of 
such  local  misgovernment  was  collusion  with  the  local 
officials  by  inspecting  officers  sent  out  by  the  central  gov- 
ernment.  The  corrupt  superiors,  for  a  share  in  the  plunder, 

i  III,  50.  8  III,  45-47.  3  III,  54.  « III,  56.  *  Ibid. 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF   THE  EMPIRE  405 


would  overlook  the  extortions  which  they  had  been  sent  on 
journeys  of  inspection  to  discover  and  prevent.  This  evil 
had  been  rooted  out  in  the  days  of  the  aggressive  Thutmose 
III,  but  it  was  now  rampant  again,  and  Harmhab  apparently 
revived  the  methods  of  Thutmose  III  for  controlling  it.1 
For  the  collection  of  all  the  various  produce  of  the  land  by 
the  different  departments  of  the  treasury,  laws  were  framed 
to  prevent  robbery  and  extortion  on  the  part  of  the  officials. 
In  the  introduction  and  application  of  the  new  laws  Harm- 
hab went  personally  from  end  to  end  of  the  kingdom.2  At 
the  same  time  he  improved  the  opportunity  to  look  for  fit- 
ting men  with  whom  he  could  lodge  the  responsibility  for  a 
proper  administration  of  justice,  in  which  direction  there 
had  also  been  great  abuse  since  the  Aton  revolution.  He 
gave  special  attention  to  the  character  of  the  two  viziers 
whom  he  placed  at  the  head  of  this  judicial  administration, 
the  one  in  Thebes  and  the  other  in  Heliopolis  or  Memphis. 
He  calls  them  ' 1  perfect  in  speech,  excellent  in  good  qualities, 
knowing  how  to  judge  the  heart,  hearing  the  words  of  the 
palace,  the  laws  of  the  judgment-hall.  I  have  appointed 
them  to  judge  the  Two  Lands.  ...  I  have  set  them  in  the 
two  great  cities  of  the  South  and  North."3  He  warned 
them  against  the  acceptance  of  a  bribe:  "Receive  not  the 
reward  of  another.  .  .  .  How  shall  those  like  you  judge 
others  while  there  is  one  among  you  committing  a  crime 
against  justice?"4  In  order  to  discourage  bribery  among 
the  local  judges  he  took  an  unprecedented  step.  He  remitted 
the  tax  of  gold  and  silver  levied  upon  all  local  officials  for 
judicial  duties,  permitting  them  to  retain  the  entire  income 
of  their  offices,5  in  order  that  they  might  have  no  excuse 
for  illegally  enriching  themselves.  But  he  went  still  fur- 
ther ;  while  organizing  the  local  courts  throughout  the  land  6 
he  passed  a  most  stringent  law  against  the  acceptance  of 
any  bribe  by  a  member  of  a  local  court  or  "council": 
"Now  as  for  any  official  or  any  priest  concerning  whom 
it  shall  be  heard,  saying:  'He  sits  to  execute  judgment 

'  III,  58.       *  III,  63,        3  TTT,  G3.        *  Ibid.         5  Ibid.        6  HI,  65, 


406 


A  HISTORY  OP  EGYPT 


among  the  council  appointed  for  judgment  and  he  commits 
a  crime  against  justice  therein,;  it  shall  be  counted  against 
him  as  a  capital  crime.  Behold  my  majesty  has  done  this 
to  improve  the  laws  of  Egypt."1  In  order  to  keep  his 
executive  officials  in  close  touch  with  himself,  as  well  as  to 
lift  them  above  all  necessity  of  accepting  any  income  from 
a  corrupt  source,  Harmhab  had  them  provided  for  with 
great  liberality.  They  went  out  on  inspection  several  times 
a  month,  and  on  these  occasions  either  just  before  their 
departure,  or  immediately  after  their  return  the  king  gave 
them  a  sumptuous  feast  in  the  palace  court,  appearing  him- 
self upon  the  balcony,  addressing  each  man  by  name  and 
throwing  down  gifts  among  them.  They  were  also  given 
substantial  portions  of  barley  and  spelt  on  these  occasions, 
and  " there  was  not  found  one  who  had  nothing.,,2 

All  these  enactments  were  recorded  by  Harmhab  on  a 
huge  stela8  some  sixteen  feet  high  and  nearly  ten  feet  wide, 
which  he  set  up  before  one  of  his  Karnak  pylons  for  which 
he  had  taken  materials  from  the  Aton  temple  at  Karnak, 
as  we  have  already  mentioned.  He  added  the  remark: 
"My  majesty  is  legislating  for  Egypt  to  prosper  the  life  of 
her  inhabitants," 4  and  he  closed  with  the  admonition, 
"Hear  ye  these  commands,  which  my  majesty  has  made  for 
the  first  time,  governing  the  whole  land,  when  my  majesty 
remembered  these  cases  of  oppression  which  occur  in  the 
presence  of  this  land."5  These  sane  and  philanthropic  re- 
forms give  Harmhab  a  high  place  in  the  history  of  humane 
government;  especially  when  we  remember  that  even  since 
the  occupation  of  the  country  by  the  English,  within  the 
memory  of  almost  every  reader,  the  evils  at  which  he  struck 
have  been  found  exceedingly  persistent  and  difficult  to 
root  out. 

With  such  serious  tasks  as  these  occupying  him  at  home 
and  an  inheritance  of  disorganization  and  anarchy  abroad, 
we  shall  not  expect  that  Harmhab  could  have  accomplished 
much  in  foreign  wars.    He  had  had  experience  in  Asia,  and 

I III,  64.  «  III,  66.  »  III,  45  ff.  *  III,  65.  « III,  67. 


Fig.  154.— SETI  I  AS  A  YOUTH  OFFERING  THE  IMAGE  OF  TRUTH. 
Relief  in  his  tomb  at  Thebes.    See  plan,  p.  251. 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  EMPIRE  407 


he  knew  what  to  expect  there.  Apparently  he  regarded  the 
foreign  situation  as  hopeless,  in  view  of  all  that  was  engag- 
ing his  full  time  and  attention  at  home.  A  list  of  names 
of  foreign  countries  on  the  wall  near  his  great  code  of  laws 
contains  the  conventional  enumeration  of  conquests  abroad, 
which  are  probably  not  to  be  taken  very  seriously;1  the  name 
of  the  Hittites  appears  among  them,  but  later  conditions  show 
that  he  could  have  accomplished  no  effective  retrenchment 
of  their  power  in  Syria.  On  the  contrary,  we  should  pos- 
sibly place  in  his  reign  the  treaty  of  alliance  and  friendship, 
referred  to  by  Ramses  II  some  fifty  years  later,  as  having 
existed  before.2  In  the  south  there  was  no  serious  need  of 
aggressive  action,  although  a  revolt  of  the  usual  character 
finally  forced  him  to  appear  in  Xubia  and  punish  the  tribes 
there.3  He  was  able  also  to  send  an  expedition  to  Punt, 
which  returned  with  the  now  familiar  wealth  of  that  coun- 
try.4 If  Harmhab  had  any  ambition  to  leave  a  reputation 
as  a  conqueror  the  times  were  against  him.  His  accession 
fell  at  a  time  when  all  his  powers  and  all  his  great  ability 
were  necessarily  employed  exclusively  in  reorganizing  the 
kingdom  after  the  long  period  of  unparalleled  laxity  which 
preceded  him.  He  performed  his  task  with  a  strength  and 
skill  not  less  than  were  required  for  great  conquest  abroad; 
while  at  the  same  time  he  showed  a  spirit  of  humane  solici- 
tude for  the  amelioration  of  the  conditions  among  the  masses, 
which  has  never  been  surpassed  in  Egypt,  from  his  time  until 
the  present  day.  Although  a  soldier,  with  all  the  qualities 
which  that  calling  implies  in  the  early  east,  yet  when  he 
became  king  he  could  truly  say:  " Behold,  his  majesty  spent 
the  whole  time  seeking  the  welfare  of  Egypt."5 

How  long  he  reigned  is  uncertain,  but  in  Ramses  II 's  day 
the  reigns  of  Ikhnaton  and  the  other  Aton  worshippers  had 
apparently  been  added  to  his  reign,  increasing  it  by  twenty 
five  years  or  more,  so  that  a  lawsuit  of  Ramses  IPs  time 
refers  to  events  of  the  fifty  ninth  year  of  Harmhab.6  He 


"  in,  34. 

*  III,  37  ff. 


*  III,  377. 
« III,  50. 


»  III,  40  ff. 

6  Inscription  of  Mes. 


408 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


therefore  probably  reigned  some  thirty  five  years.  While 
he  was  still  serving  the  Pharaoh,  in  the  days  of  his  official 
career,  he  had  built  a  tomb  of  the  most  superb  and  artistic 
workmanship  at  Memphis  (Figs.  119,  147-8,  150).  It  was  a 
characteristic  of  the  man  that  he  did  not  abandon  this  Mem- 
phite  tomb  and  order  one  more  splendid  at  Thebes  in  the 
Valley  of  the  Kings'  Tombs.  He  left  untouched  upon  its 
walls  all  his  old  official  titles  as  general,  etc.,  which  we  have 
already  quoted,  merely  placing  alongside  them  his  royal 
names  and  the  Pharaonic  titulary.  Wherever  his  figure 
appeared  among  the  reliefs  in  the  tomb  chapel,  he  caused 
the  royal  uraeus  serpent  to  be  inserted  on  the  forehead  (Fig. 
150),  thus  clearly  distinguishing  the  figure  as  that  of  a 
king.1  These  insertions  may  still  be  traced  at  the  present 
day. 

The  fruits  of  Harmhab's  reorganization  were  destined  to 
be  enjoyed  by  his  successors.  Whether  or  not  he  succeeded 
in  founding  a  dynasty  we  do  not  know.  It  is  impossible  to 
discover  any  certain  connection  between  him  and  Ramses  I, 
who  now  (1315  B.  C.)  succeeded  him,  but  as  Ramses  I  was 
already  of  advanced  age  on  his  accession,  he  must  have  had 
some  legal  title  to  the  throne.  Otherwise  at  such  an  age 
he  would  hardly  have  been  able  to  make  good  his  claims. 
He  was  too  old  to  accomplish  anything  or  to  utilize  the 
resources  of  the  new  nation  which  Harmhab  had  built  up. 
He  planned  and  began  the  vast  colonnaded  hall,  the  famous 
hypostyle  of  Karnak,  afterward  continued  and  completed 
by  his  successors.  In  his  second  year  he  found  the  new 
responsibility  beyond  his  strength  and  he  associated  as  co- 
regent  with  himself  his  son,  Seti  I,2  then  probably  about 
thirty  years  old.  Together  with  his  son  he  may  have  organ- 
ized a  campaign  in  Nubia,  for  in  any  case  in  the  same  year 
he  was  able  to  add  4 4 slaves  of  the  captivity  of  his  majesty' 1 
to  the  endowment  of  the  Nubian  temple  at  Wadi  Haifa. s 
The  inscription  recording  this  and  other  gifts  to  the  said 
temple4  is  the  only  dated  monument  of  Ramses  I's  reign, 

*  III,  1-21.  2  in,  157.  3  in,  78.  *  III,  74  ff. 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  EMPIRE  409 


and  as  Seti's  name  is  appended  to  it  at  the  bottom,  it  is  not 
impossible  that  the  young  coregent  prince  had  carried  on 
the  campaign  in  Nubia  himself  and  erected  the  tablet  before 
he  left.  Six  months  after  the  dating  of  this  tablet  the  old 
king  was  already  dead  (1313  B.  C),  and  Seti,  as  sole  king 
of  Egypt,  succeeded  him.1 

During  his  short  coregency  of  not  more  than  a  year,  Seti 
I  must  have  already  laid  all  his  plans  and  organized  his 
army  in  readiness  for  an  attempt  to  recover  the  lost  empire 
in  Asia.  The  desert  road  leading  to  Palestine  from  Tharu, 
the  frontier  fort  of  Egypt,  whither  Harmhab's  noseless 
exiles  were  banished,  was  again  put  in  condition.  The  for- 
tified stations  which  protected  the  wells  and  cisterns  dis- 
tributed along  it  were  rebuilt  and  repaired.2  It  was  a  march 
of  ten  days  from  Tharu  through  the  desert  to  Gaza  in 
southern  Palestine,3  and  a  plentiful  supply  of  water  was 
therefore  absolutely  essential  throughout  the  march.  It  is 
probable  that  Egypt  was  still  maintaining  some  degree  of 
control  in  Palestine,  but  the  conditions  which  we  saw  devel- 
oping there  during  the  reign  of  Ikhnaton  had  received  no 
serious  attention  since  then,  with  the  possible  exception  of 
an  ineffective  campaign  by  one  of  Ikhnaton 's  successors. 
The  information  which  Seti  I  now  received  as  to  the  state  of 
the  country  betrays  a  condition  of  affairs  quite  such  as  we 
should  expect  would  have  resulted  from  the  tendency  evi- 
dent in  the  letters  of  Abdkhiba  of  Jerusalem  to  Ikhnaton. 4 
They  showed  us  the  Beduin  of  the  neighbouring  desert  press- 
ing into  Palestine  and  taking  possession  of  the  towns, 
whether  in  the  service  of  the  turbulent  dynasts  or  on  their 
own  responsibility.  We  saw  these  letters  corroborated  by 
Egyptian  monuments,  portraying  the  panic-stricken  Pales- 
tinians fleeing  into  Egypt  before  these  foes.  Seti  I's  mes 
sengers  now  bring  him  information  of  the  very  same  char- 
acter regarding  the  Beduin.  They  report:  1 1  Their  tribal 
chiefs  are  in  coalition  and  they  are  gaining  a  foothold  in 
Palestine ;  they  have  taken  to  cursing  and  quarrelling,  each 

till,  157.  2  III,  84;  86.  » II,  409.  *  See  above,  pp.  387-8. 


410 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


of  them  slaying  his  neighbour,  and  they  disregard  the  laws 
of  the  palace."1  It  was  among  these  desert  invaders  of 
Palestine  that  the  movement  of  the  Hebrews  resulting  in 
their  settlement  there  took  place.  It  was  of  little  moment 
to  the  Pharaoh  which  particular  tribe  of  Semites  possessed 
the  different  regions  of  Palestine,  if  only  they  regularly 
paid  their  tribute  to  Egypt;  but  this  was  now  no  longer 
the  case. 

In  his  first  year  Seti  was  able  to  march  out  from  Tharu 
and  lead  his  expedition  along  the  desert  road,  past  the  sta- 
tions which  he  had  restored.2  In  the  Negeb,  or  southern 
Palestinian  country,  he  was  met  by  the  ' 1  Shasu ' '  or  "  Shos, ' 9 
as  the  Egyptians  called  the  Beduin  of  that  region,  and  he 
scattered  them  far  and  wide.3  As  he  reached  the  frontier 
of  Canaan,  which  was  the  name  applied  by  the  Egyptians 
to  all  western  Palestine  and  Syria,  he  captured  a  walled 
town,  which  marked  the  northern  limit  of  the  struggle  with 
the  Beduin.4  Thence  he  pushed  rapidly  northward,  cap- 
turing the  towns  of  the  plain  of  Megiddo  (Jezreel),  pushing 
eastward  across  the  valley  of  the  Jordan  and  erecting  his 
tablet  of  victory  in  the  Hauran,5  and  westward  to  the  south- 
ern slopes  of  Lebanon,  where  he  took  the  forest-girt  city  of 
Yenoam,6  once  the  property  of  the  temple  of  Anion,  after 
its  capture  by  Thutmose  III,  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  before.  The  neighbouring  dynasts  of  the  Lebanon 
immediately  came  to  him  and  offered  their  allegiance.  They 
had  not  seen  a  Pharaoh  at  the  head  of  his  army  in  Asia  for 
over  fifty  years,— not  since  Amenhotep  III  had  left  Sidon;7 
and  Seti  immediately  put  them  to  the  test  by  requiring  a 
liberal  contribution  of  cedar  logs  for  the  sacred  barge  of 
Amon  which  he  was  building  at  Thebes,  as  well  as  for  the 
tall  flag-staves  which  surmounted  the  temple  pylons.8  These 
the  subjects  of  the  Lebanon  felled  in  his  presence,  and  Seti 
was  able  to  send  them  to  Egypt  by  water  from  the  harbours 
which,  like  his  great  predecessor,  Thutmose  III,  he  was  now 

»  in,  101,  11.  3-9.  *  III,  83  f.         »  III,  85  f.  *  in,  87-8. 

« III,  81.  •  III,  89-90.       »  See  above,  p.  353.    8  m,  91-94. 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  EMPIRE  411 


subduing.  It  is  remotely  possible  that  he  advanced  as  far 
north  as  Simyra  and  Ullaza,1  and  that  the  prince  of  Cyprus 
sent  in  his  gifts  as  of  old.  However  that  may  be,  Tyre  and 
Othu2  submitted  in  any  case  and  having  thus  secured  the 
coast  and  restored  the  water  route  between  Syria  and  Egypt 
for  future  operations,  Seti  returned  to  Egypt.  The  return 
of  a  victorious  Pharaoh  from  conquest  in  Asia,  so  common 
in  the  days  of  the  great  conquerors,  was  now  a  spectacle 
which  the  grandees  of  the  realm  had  not  witnessed  for  two 
generations.  The  news  of  Seti's  successes  had  preceded 
him,  and  the  nobles  of  the  administrative  government  has- 
tened to  the  frontier  to  receive  him.  At  Tharu,  outside  the 
gate  of  the  frontier  fortress  beside  the  bridge  over  the  fresh 
water  canal,  which,  as  the  reader  will  recall  (see  p.  188), 
already  connected  the  Nile  with  the  bitter  lakes  of  the  Isth- 
mus of  Suez,  they  gathered  in  a  rejoicing  group,  and  as 
Seti's  weary  lines  toiled  up  in  the  dust  of  the  long  desert 
march,  with  the  Pharaoh  at  their  head,  driving  before  his 
chariot-horses  the  captive  dynasts  of  Palestine  and  Syria, 
the  nobles  broke  out  in  acclamation.3  At  Thebes  there  was 
another  festive  presentation  of  prisoners  and  spoil  before 
Anion,  such  as  had  been  common  enough  in  the  days  of  the 
empire,  but  which  the  Thebans  had  not  witnessed  for  fifty 
years  or  more  ;4  and  in  the  course  of  the  celebration  the 
king  sacrificed  in  the  presence  of  the  gods  some  of  the 
prisoners  whom  he  had  taken.5 

This  campaign  was  quite  sufficient  to  restore  southern  Pal- 
estine to  the  kingdom  of  the  Pharaoh,  and  probably  also  most 
of  northern  Palestine.  Before  Seti  could  continue  his  opera- 
tions in  Asia,  however,  he  was  obliged  to  direct  his  forces 
against  a  threatening  danger,  which  likewise  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  had  demanded  the  Pharaoh's 
attention  and  cost  him  a  war.  The  Libyans  west  of  the 
Nile  mouths  never  failed  to  improve  the  opportunity  of  lax 
government  in  Egypt  to  push  into  the  Delta  and  take  pos- 
session of  all  the  territory  they  could  hold,  and  the  exact 

i  III,  81;  92.      « III,  89.      "  III,  98-103.      «  III,  104-112.      «  III,  113. 


412 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


western  border  of  the  Delta  was  always  more  or  less  uncer- 
tain on  their  frontier.  Seti  spent  his  entire  next  year,  the 
second  of  his  reign,  in  the  Delta,  as  a  series  of  court  bills 
for  his  table  supplies  shows;1  and  it  is  thus  very  probable 
that  he  carried  on  his  operations  against  the  Libyans  in  that 
year.  He  met  them  in  battle  at  some  unknown  point  in 
the  western  Delta,2  and  according  to  the  meagre  accounts 
which  he  has  left  us,  was  able  to  return  in  triumph  to  Thebes 
with  the  usual  prisoners  and  spoil  to  be  presented  in  the 
temple  of  Amon.3  It  is  possible  that  this  return  to  Thebes 
did  not  take  place  immediately,  but  that  he  proceeded  to 
Asia  after  the  overthrow  of  the  Libyans,  to  continue  the 
restoration  of  Egyptian  power  in  Syria  which  he  had  begun 
so  auspiciously  the  season  before.  In  any  case,  we  next  find 
him  in  Galilee,  storming  the  walled  city  of  Kadesh,  which 
must  not  be  confused  with  Kadesh  on  the  Orontes.  Here 
the  Amorite  kingdom,  founded  by  Abdashirta  and  Aziru, 
as  we  were  able  to  follow  it  in  the  letters  of  Eib-Addi, 4 
formed  a  kind  of  buffer  state,  to  which  the  Galilean  Kadesh 
belonged,  lying  between  Palestine  on  the  south  and  the 
southern  Hittite  frontier  in  the  Orontes  valley  on  the  north. 
It  was  necessary  for  Seti  to  subdue  this  intermediate  king- 
dom before  he  could  come  to  blows  with  the  Hittites  lying 
behind  it.  After  harrying  its  territory  and  probably  taking 
Kadesh, 5  Seti  pushed  northward  against  the  Hittites.  Their 
king,  Seplel,  who  had  entered  into  treaty  relations  with 
Egypt  toward  the  close  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty,  was 
now  long  dead;  his  son,  Merasar,  was  ruling  in  his  stead.6 
Somewhere  in  the  Orontes  valley  Seti  came  into  contact 
with  them  and  the  first  battle  between  the  Hittites  and  a 
Pharaoh  occurred.  Of  the  character  and  magnitude  of  the 
action  we  know  nothing ;  we  have  only  a  battle  relief  showing 
Seti  in  full  career  charging  the  enemy  in  his  chariot.7  It 
is,  however,  not  probable  that  he  met  the  main  army  of  the 
Hittites;  certain  it  is  that  he  did  not  shake  their  power  in 

i  III,  82,  2.       «  m,  120-132.       »  III,  133-9.       *  See  above,  pp.  383-7. 
*  III,  14(M41.   «  III,  375.  '  HI,  142-144. 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OP  THE  EMPIRE  413 


Syria;  Kadesh  on  the  Orontes  remained  in  their  hands, 
and  at  most,  Seti  could  not  have  accomplished  more  than 
to  have  driven  back  their  extreme  advance,  thus  preventing 
them  from  absorbing  any  more  territory  on  the  south  or 
pushing  southward  into  Palestine.  He  returned  to  Thebes 
for  another  triumph,  driving  his  Hittite  prisoners  before 
him,  and  presenting  them,  with  the  spoil,  to  the  god  of 
the  Empire,  Amon  of  Karnak.1  The  boundary  which  he  had 
established  in  Asia  roughly  coincided  inland  with  the  north- 
ern limits  of  Palestine,  and  must  have  included  also  Tyre 
and  the  Phoenician  coast  south  of  the  mouth  of  the  Litany. 
Though  much  increasing  the  territory  of  Egypt  in  Asia,  it 
represented  but  a  small  third  of  what  she  had  once  con- 
quered there.  Under  these  circumstances,  it  would  have 
been  quite  natural  for  Seti  to  continue  the  war  in  Syria. 
For  some  reason,  however,  he  did  not,  in  so  far  as  we  know, 
ever  appear  with  his  forces  in  Asia  again.  He  possibly 
recognized  the  hopelessness  of  a  struggle  against  the  Hit- 
tites,  who  were  now  so  firmly  entrenched  in  Syria.  The 
position  of  Egypt  in  Syria  was  indeed  totally  different  from 
that  of  the  Hittites,  who  were  actually  occupying  the  coun- 
try, the  warrior  class  at  least  residing  there;  whereas  the 
Pharaohs  had  never  attempted  to  colonize  the  country,  but 
merely  to  hold  it  in  vassalage,  subject  to  the  payment  of 
yearly  tribute.  Such  a  method  of  holding  distant  conquests 
was  not  likely  to  succeed  at  the  threshold  of  the  powerful 
Hittite  kingdom,  a  nation  unable  to  resist  its  own  expansive 
force  and  overflowing  constantly  into  Syria.  Had  the  Phar- 
aoh succeeded  in  evicting  them  it  would  have  required  inces- 
sant war  in  northern  Syria  to  have  kept  them  within  their 
old  limits.  Seti  may  have  perceived  the  changed  conditions 
and  understood  that  the  methods  which  had  built  up  the 
empire  of  Thutmose  III  could  no  longer  apply  with  a  power 
of  the  first  rank  already  occupying  Syria.  He  therefore, 
either  at  this  time  or  later,  negotiated  a  treaty  of  peace 
with  the  Hittite  king,  Metella,  who  had  succeeded  his  father, 
Merasar.2 

i  III,  145-152.  .  2  in,  377. 


114 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Returning  to  Egypt,  he  devoted  himself  to  the  interests 
of  peace,  especially  to  the  temples  of  the  gods.  The  deface- 
ment of  the  monuments  during  the  Aton  revolution  had 
been  but  partially  repaired  by  Harmhab;  Seti's  father  had 
reigned  too  briefly  to  accomplish  anything  in  this  direction, 
so  that  Seti  himself  found  much  to  do  in  merely  restoring 
the  disfigured  monuments  of  his  ancestors,  which  he  did  with 
admirable  piety.  All  the  larger  monuments  of  the  Eigh- 
teenth Dynasty  from  the  Nubian  temple  of  Amada  on  the 
south  to  Bubastis  on  the  north,  bear  records  of  his  restora- 
tion, with  the  words  appended:  1 ' Restoration  of  the  monu- 
ment, which  Seti  I  made. '  n  Throughout  the  great  quarries 
of  Egypt,  Assuan,  Silsileh,  Gebelen,  his  workmen  were  dis- 
patched.2 Captives  of  war  were  employed  as  of  old,  but 
where  he  utilized  the  labour  of  native  Egyptians,  Seti 
records  with  great  pride  the  humane  treatment  and  the  gen- 
erous supplies  accorded  them.  At  Silsileh,  whence  the  sand- 
stone was  procured,  every  one  of  the  thousand  workmen 
employed  there  received  daily  nearly  four  pounds  of  bread, 
two  bundles  of  vegetables  and  a  roast  of  meat;  while  twice 
a  month  each  man  was  given  a  clean  linen  garment.3  At 
all  the  great  sanctuaries  of  the  old  gods  his  buildings  were 
now  rising  on  a  scale  unprecedented  in  the  palmiest  days 
of  the  Empire,  — a  fact  which  shows  that  the  income,  even 
of  the  reduced  empire  of  Seti  I,  reaching  from  the  fourth 
cataract  of  the  Nile  to  the  sources  of  the  Jordan,  was  still 
sufficient  to  support  enterprises  of  imperial  scope.  In  front 
of  the  pylon  of  Amenhotep  III,  forming  the  fagade  of  the 
state  temple  at  Karnak,  Seti  continued  the  vast  colonnaded 
hall  planned  and  begun  by  his  father,  and  which  surpassed 
in  size  even  the  enormous  unfinished  hypostyle  of  Amenhotep 
III  at  Luxor.  The  battle  reliefs  on  the  front  of  Amenhotep 
Ill's  pylon  were  covered  by  Seti's  masonry.  He  completed 
some  of  the  columns  of  the  northern  aisles  as  well  as  the 
north  wall,  on  the  outside  of  which  his  sculptors  engraved 
a  colossal  series  of  reliefs  (Fig.  152)  portraying  his  cam- 

1  111,200.  *  III,  201-210.  » III,  207. 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OP  THE  EMPIRE  415 


paigns.  Mounting  from  the  base  to  the  coping  they  cover 
the  entire  wall  (over  two  hundred  feet  long),  converging 
from  each  end  upon  a  door  in  the  middle,  toward  which 
the  king  is  shown  returning  to  Egypt,  then  presenting  offer- 
ings, spoil  and  captives  to  Amon;  and  at  last  sacrificing 
the  prisoners  before  the  god,  at  the  very  door  itself,  as  if 
the  king  were  entering  to  perform  the  ceremony.1  Similar 
works  existed  in  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  temples,  but  they 
have  all  perished  save  the  remnants  of  Amenhotep  Ill's 
reliefs  just  referred  to,  and  Seti's  battle-reliefs  therefore 
form  the  most  imposing  work  of  the  kind  now  surviving 
in  Egypt.  The  great  hall  which  it  was  to  adorn  was  never 
finished  by  him,  and  it  was  left  to  his  successors  to  complete 
it.  Like  his  fathers  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty,  he  erected 
a  great  mortuary  temple  on  the  western  plain  of  Thebes.  It 
was  located  at  the  northern  end  of  the  line  of  similar  sanc- 
tuaries left  by  the  earlier  kings,  and  as  Seti's  father  had 
died  too  soon  to  construct  any  such  temple,  it  was  also  dedi- 
cated to  him.  This  temple,  now  known  as  that  of  Kurna, 
was  likewise  left  incomplete  by  Seti.2  At  Abydos  he  built 
a  magnificent  sanctuary  dedicated  to  the  great  gods  of  the 
empire,  the  Osirian  triad  and  himself,  with  a  side  chapel 
for  the  services  of  the  old  kings,  especially  of  the  First  and 
Second  Dynasties,  whose  tombs  still  lie  in  the  desert  behind 
the  temple.3  The  list  of  their  names  which  he  engraved 
upon  the  walls  still  forms  one  of  the  most  important  sources 
for  our  chronological  arrangement  and  assignment  of  the 
Pharaohs.  Although  this  temple  has  lost  the  first  and 
second  pylons,  it  still  remains  perhaps  the  noblest  monument 
of  Egyptian  art  still  surviving  in  the  land.  To  its  artistic 
value  we  shall  revert  again.  A  temple  at  Memphis,  prob- 
ably another  at  Heliopolis,  with  doubtless  others  in  the 
Delta  of  which  we  know  nothing ;  and  in  Nubia  an  enormous 
cliff-temple  at  Abu  Simbel,  left  incomplete4  and  afterward 
finished  by  his  son,  Ramses  II,  completed  the  series  of  Seti 's 
greater  buildings. 

» III,  80-156.  *  III,  211-221.  » III,  225-243.  *  III,  495. 


416 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


These  works  drew  heavily  upon  his  treasury,  and  when 
he  reached  the  point  of  permanently  endowing  the  mor- 
tuary service  of  the  Abydos  temple,  he  found  it  necessary 
to  seek  additional  sources  of  income.  He  therefore  turned 
his  attention  to  the  possible  resources  and  found  that  the 
supply  of  gold  from  the  mountains  of  the  Red  Sea  region 
in  the  district  of  Gebel  Zebara  was  seriously  restricted  by 
the  difficulties  which  beset  the  route,  especially  in  the  matter 
of  water.  The  road  from  the  Nile  valley  thither  left  the 
river  at  a  point  a  few  miles  above  Edfu,  and  Seti  visited 
the  place  himself  to  discover  what  might  be  done  to  remedy 
the  difficulty.  He  found  it  necessary  to  go  out  into  the 
desert  some  two  days  journey  to  a  point  about  thirty  seven 
miles  from  the  river,  where  there  was  an  old  and  probably 
disused  station  known  to  the  caravans  of  the  Eighteenth 
Dynasty.1  Here,  under  his  own  superintendence,  a  well  was 
dug,  yielding  a  plentiful  supply  of  water.2  Thereupon  Seti 
erected  a  small  temple  by  the  well  and  established  a  settle- 
ment at  the  place.3  In  all  probability  other  stations  further 
out  on  the  same  route  were  erected.  The  thirsty  caravaneers 
sang  his  praise:  "Ye  gods  dwelling  in  the  well  give  ye  to 
him  your  duration;  for  he  hath  opened  for  us  the  way  to 
march  in,  when  it  was  closed  up  before  us.  We  proceed  and 
are  saved;  we  arrive  and  are  preserved  alive.  The  difficult 
way  which  is  in  our  memories  has  become  a. good  way.,M 
Then  Seti  established  the  income  from  the  mines  thus  reached 
as  a  permanent  endowment  for  his  temple  at  Abydos,  and 
called  down  terrifying  curses  on  any  posterity  who  should 
violate  his  enactments.5  Yet  within  a  year  after  his  death 
they  had  ceased  to  be  effective  and  had  to  be  renewed  by 
his  son.6  In  a  similar  effort  to  replenish  his  treasury  from 
gold  mines  further  south  in  the  Wadi  Alaki,  Seti  dug  a  well 
two  hundred  feet  deep  on  the  road  leading  southeast  from 
Kubban  in  Nubia,  but  he  failed  to  reach  water,  and  the 
attempt  to  increase  the  gold-supply  from  this  region  was 
evidently  unsuccessful.7 

iIII,  170.  2  III,  171.  » III,  172-4.  <III,  195. 

6 III,  175-194.         e  in,  263.  'Ill,  2S9. 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  EMPIRE.  417 

The  art  developed  in  connection  with  Seti's  buildings 
was  hardly  less  strong,  virile  and  beautiful  than  that  pre- 
vailing during  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty.  The  impulses  which 
had  come  with  Egypt's  imperial  position,  while  not  as  strong 
as  under  the  great  emperors,  were  nevertheless  not  entirely 
quenched.  The  conception  of  the  great  hall  at  Karnak, 
although  not  carried  out  with  the  refinement  which  we  found 
in  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty,  as  we  shall  see  later  on,  was  yet 
one  of  the  noblest  fruits  of  Egypt's  power  and  wealth,  and 
remains  to-day,  in  spite  of  glaring  faults,  one  of  the  most 
impressive  surviving  monuments  of  Egyptian  architectural 
genius.  In  sculpture,  Seti's  battle-reliefs  are  the  most  ambi- 
tious attempt  at  elaborate  composition  left  by  the  surviving 
school  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty,  which  they  represent; 
while  very  effective  as  compositions,  they  are  however  de- 
fective in  drawing.  Nevertheless  the  figure  of  Seti  with 
upraised  spear,  dispatching  the  Libyan  chief,  on  this  north 
wall  at  Karnak  (Fig.  152),  is  one  of  the  strongest  and 
most  vigourous  examples  of  drawing  to  be  found  among  the 
works  of  Egyptian  artists;  while  as  a  composition  it  is 
almost  equally  good.  The  finest  reliefs  of  the  time,  how- 
ever, are  to  be  found  in  Seti's  temple  at  Abydos  (Fig.  153), 
in  which  there  is  a  rare  combination  of  softness  and  refine- 
ment, with  bold  and  sinuous  lines  and  exquisite  modelling. 
Hardly  inferior  to  these  are  the  reliefs  in  Seti's  magnificent 
tomb  (Fig.  154)  at  Thebes.  The  painting  of  the  time  also 
continues  to  show  much  of  the  power  of  the  Amarna  school 
of  art.  TheTheban  tombs  have  preserved  exquisite  examples 
like  the  inspection  of  the  herds  (Fig.  155)  or  the  hunt  in 
the  marshes,  the  latter  exhibiting  a  fine  touch  of  animal 
savagery  in  the  fierce  abandon  of  a  lithe  cat  as  she  tramples 
two  wild  birds  beneath  her  feet  and  sinks  her  teeth  at  the 
same  moment  into  a  third  victim  (Fig.  156). 

Beyond  Seti's  ninth  year  we  know  practically  nothing  of 
his  reign.  He  seems  to  have  spent  his  energies  upon  his 
extensive  buildings,  and  among  these  he  did  not  forget 
the  excavation  of  the  largest  tomb  yet  made  in  the  valley  of 

27 


418 


A  HISTORY  OP  EGYPT 


the  kings  at  Thebes.  It  is  of  complicated  construction  and 
descends  into  the  mountain  through  a  series  of  galleries  and 
extensive  halls  no  less  than  four  hundred  and  seventy  feet  in 
oblique  depth  (Fig.  109).  As  the  thirtieth  anniversary  of 
his  nomination  as  crown  prince  approached  Seti  began  the 
preparation  of  the  necessary  obelisks ;  and  about  the  same 
time  his  eldest  son,  whose  name  is  unknown  to  us,  was 
appointed  to  the  succession  as  crown  prince.  Desirous  of 
appearing  to  have  shared  in  the  achievements  of  his  father, 
this  prince  had  his  figure  inserted  in  the  scene  on  the  north 
wall  of  his  father's  Karnak  hall,  showing  him  in  battle  with 
the  Libyans.  As  his  figure  is  not  original  here,  there  was 
not  room  for  it  and  part  of  an  inscription  had  to  be  chiselled 
out  in  order  to  create  the  necessary  space.  The  fraud  is 
visible  to  this  day,  the  colour  by  which  it  was  once  disguised 
having  now  vanished.  Ramses,  another  son  of  Seti,  born 
to  him  by  one  of  his  queens  named  Tuya,  was,  however,  plot- 
ting to  supplant  his  eldest  brother,  and  during  their  father's 
last  days  Ramses  laid  his  plans  so  effectively  that  he  was 
ready  for  a  successful  coup  at  the  old  king's  death.  Some 
time  before  the  approaching  jubilee,  while  the  obelisks  for 
it  were  still  unfinished,  Seti  died  (about  1292  B.  C),  having 
reigned  over  twenty  years  since  his  own  father's  death. 
He  was  laid  to  rest  in  a  sumptuous  sarcophagus  of  alabaster 
in  the  splendid  tomb  which  he  had  excavated  in  the  western 
valley.  The  body  then  deposited  in  the  tomb,  and  preserved 
by  happy  accident,  like  many  others  of  the  Pharaohs  whom 
we  have  seen,  shows  him  to  have  been  one  of  the  stateliest 
figures  that  ever  sat  upon  the  throne  of  Egypt,  in  so  far  as 
we  can  judge  at  this  time  from  the  remains  preserved  to 
us  (Fig.  158). 

The  plans  of  the  young  Ramses  were  immediately  carried 
out.  Whether  his  elder  brother  gained  the  throne  long 
enough  to  have  his  figure  inserted  in  his  father's  reliefs  or 
whether  his  influence  as  crown  prince  had  accomplished  this, 
we  cannot  tell.  In  any  case  Ramses  brushed  him  aside 
without  a  moment's  hesitation  and  seized  the  throne.  The 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  EMPIRE.  419 


only  public  evidence  of  his  brother's  claims,  his  figure  in- 
serted by  that  of  Seti  in  the  battle  with  the  Libyans  (Fig. 
152)  was  immediately  erased  with  the  inscriptions  which 
stated  his  name  and  titles;  while  in  their  stead  the  artists 
of  Ramses  inserted  the  figure  of  their  new  lord,  with  the 
title  " crown  prince,"  which  he  had  never  borne  (Fig.  157). 


Fig.  157.    Section  of  one  of  Seti  I's  Reliefs  at  Kabnak. 

The  broken  lines  are  the  figure  of  Seti's  first  born  son,  who  had  himself 
inserted  here  long  after  the  completion  of  the  reliefs,  so  that  a  column  of  the 
original  inscription  now  continues  down  into  the  figure.  The  dotted  lines 
show  the  form  of  Ramses  II,  inserted  by  him  over  that  of  his  elder  brother 
whom  he  displaced  and  supplanted. 

The  colour  which  once  carefully  veiled  all  traces  of  these 
alterations  has  now  long  since  disappeared,  and  the  evi- 
dence of  the  bitter  conflict  of  the  two  princes  involving  of 
course  the  harem  and  the  officials  of  the  court  and  a  whole 
lost  romance  of  court  intrigue  may  still  be  traced  by  the 
trained  eye  on  the  north  wall  of  the  Karnak  hypostyle. 
Such  was  the  accession  of  the  famous  Pharaoh,  Ramses  II. 
But  the  usual  court  devices  were  immediately  resorted  to, 


420 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


that  the  manner  of  the  Pharaoh's  actual  conquest  of  the 
throne  might  be  forgotten.  When  Ramses  addressed  the 
court  he  alluded  specifically  to  the  day  when  his  father  had 
set  him  as  a  child  before  the  nobles  and  published  him  as 
the  heir  to  the  kingdom.1  The  grandees  knew  too  well  the 
road  to  favour  not  to  respond  in  fulsome  eulogies  expanding 
on  the  wonderful  powers  of  the  king  in  his  childhood  and 
narrating  how  he  had  even  commanded  the  army  at  ten 
years  of  age.2  The  young  monarch  showed  great  vigour  and 
high  abilities,  and  if  his  unfortunate  rival  left  a  party  to 
dispute  his  claims,  no  trace  of  their  opposition  is  now 
discoverable. 

Ramses  lost  no  time  however  in  making  himself  strong 
at  Thebes,  the  seat  of  power.  Thither  he  immediately 
hastened,  probably  from  the  Delta,  and  celebrated  in  the 
state  temple  the  great  annual  Feast  of  Opet.3  Having 
gained  the  priests  of  Amon  he  devoted  himself  with  great 
zeal  to  pious  works  in  memory  of  his  father.  For  this 
purpose  he  sailed  down  the  river  from  Thebes  to  Abydos,4 
which  he  had  probably  touched  on  his  way  up  to  Thebes. 
At  Abydos  he  found  has  father's  magnificent  mortuary 
temple  in  a  sad  state;  it  was  without  roof,  the  drums  of 
the  columns  and  the  blocks  for  the  half  raised  walls  lay  scat- 
tered in  the  mire,  and  the  whole  monument,  left  thus  unfin- 
ished by  Seti,  was  fast  going  to  destruction.  Worse  than 
this,  the  endowments  which  Seti  had  left  for  its  support  had 
been  neglected,  violated  and  misappropriated  by  the  people 
left  in  charge  of  them,5  in  total  disregard  of  the  solemn  adju- 
rations and  frightful  curses  recorded  by  their  royal  master, 
then  less  than  a  year  dead.  The  tombs  of  the  hoary  kings 
of  the  First  Dynasty,  who  had  ruled  over  two  thousand  years 
before,  were  also  found  to  be  in  need  of  attention.6  Ramses 
summoned  his  court  and  announced  to  them  his  intention 
of  completing  and  putting  in  repair  all  these  works,  but 
particularly  the  temple  of  his  father.7    He  carried  out  his 

i  III,  267-8.         2  III,  288,  1.  17.  9  III,  255-6,  260.  «III,  261. 

s  III,  263.  •  III,  262.  »  III,  264-5. 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  EMPIRE.  421 


father's  plans  and  completed  the  temple,  at  the  same  time 
renewing  the  landed  endowments  and  reorganizing  the  ad- 
ministration of  its  property  to  which  Ramses  now  added 
herds,  the  tribute  of  fowlers  and  fishermen,  a  trading  ship 
on  the  Red  Sea,  a  fleet  of  barges  on  the  river,  slaves  and 
serfs,  with  priests  and  officials  for  the  management  of  the 
temple-estate.1  All  this,  although  recognized  by  the  court 
as  due  to  the  most  pious  motives,  was  not  wholly  without 
advantage  to  the  giver;  for  the  conclusion  of  the  enormous 
inscription2  left  by  Ramses  to  record  his  good  deeds  in  his 
father's  temple,  represents  Ramses  as  thus  securing  the 
favour  of  his  father,  who,  as  the  companion  of  the  gods, 
intercedes  with  them  in  his  son's  behalf  and  thus  ensures 
to  Ramses  the  favour  of  the  divine  powers  who  grant  him  a 
long  and  powerful  reign.3  This  notion  of  the  intercession 
of  the  dead  with  the  gods  on  behalf  of  the  living  is  found 
in  one  inscription  as  old  as  the  Old  Kingdom,  occurs  also 
in  the  Middle  Kingdom  and  again,  enunciated  by  Ramses  in 
the  mortuary  temple  of  his  father  at  Thebes  which  he  like- 
wise completed  on  finding  it  left  unfinished  by  Seti.4 

Perhaps  the  heavy  draughts  upon  his  treasury  entailed  by 
the  mortuary  endowments  of  his  father  now  moved  Ramses 
to  look  for  new  sources  of  income.  However  this  may  be, 
we  find  him  at  Memphis  in  his  third  year  consulting  with 
his  officials  regarding  the  possibility  of  opening  up  the  Wadi 
Alaki  country  in  Nubia  and  developing  there  the  mines 
which  Seti  I  had  unsuccessfully  attempted  to  exploit.5  The 
viceroy  of  Kush,  who  was  present,  explained  the  difficulty 
to  the  king  and  related  the  fruitless  attempt  of  his  father 
to  supply  the  route  with  water.  It  was  now  so  bad  that 
when  the  caravaneers  attempted  the  desert  journey  thither 
"it  was  only  half  of  them  that  arrived  there;  for  they  died 
of  thirst  on  the  road,  together  with  the  asses  which  they 
drove  before  them."  They  were  obliged  to  take  enough 
water  for  the  round  trip,  as  they  could  obtain  none  at  the 
mines.   "Hence  no  gold  was  brought  from  this  country  for 

HII,  274-7.  2  III,  251-281.  » III,  279-281. 

*III,  281,  1.  103,  note.  « III,  282-293. 


422 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


lack  of  water."1  With  subtle  flattery  the  viceroy  and  court 
advised  another  attempt  to  supply  the  route  with  water,2 
and  the  result  of  the  ensuing  royal  command  to  undertake 
it  was  a  letter  from  the  viceroy  of  Kush  announcing  the 
complete  success  of  the  enterprise  and  the  discovery  of  a 
copious  spring  of  water  at  a  depth  of  only  twenty  feet.3 
At  Kubban,  where  the  road  leading  to  the  mines  left  the 
Nile-valley,  Ramses  had  the  viceroy  erect  a  stela  commem- 
orating the  achievement  and  bearing  a  record  of  the  events 
which  we  have  sketched.4  Such  enterprises  of  internal  ex- 
ploitation were  but  preparatory  in  the  plans  of  Ramses. 
His  ambition  held  him  to  greater  purposes ;  and  he  contem- 
plated nothing  less  than  the  recovery  of  the  great  Asiatic 
empire,  conquered  by  his  predecessors  of  the  Eighteenth 
Dynasty. 

"HI,  286.  *III,  288-9.  3  III,  292.  «  III,  282-295. 


CHAPTER  XXI 


THE  WARS  OF  RAMSES  II 

We  have  seen  that  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty  had  inherited 
a  very  dangerous  situation  in  Syria.  Ramses  I  had  been 
too  old  and  had  reigned  too  briefly  to  accomplish  anything 
there ;  Seti  I,  his  son,  had  not  been  able  to  penetrate  into  the 
territory  held  by  the  Hittites,  much  less  to  sweep  them  back 
into  Asia  Minor  and  reclaim  the  old  conquests  of  the  Eigh- 
teenth Dynasty.  When  Ramses  II  ascended  the  throne  the 
Hittites  had  remained  in  undisputed  possession  of  these  con- 
quests for  probably  more  than  twenty  years  since  the  only 
attempt  by  Seti  I  to  dislodge  them.  The  long  peace  prob- 
ably concluded  with  Seti  gave  their  king,  Metella,  an  oppor- 
tunity, of  which  he  made  good  use,  to  render  their  position 
in  Syria  impregnable.  Advancing  southward,  up  the  valley 
of  the  Orontes,  he  had  seized  Kadesh,  the  centre  of  the 
Syrian  power  in  the  days  of  Thutmose  III,  which,  we  remem- 
ber, had  given  him  more  trouble  and  held  out  with  more 
tenacious  resistance  than  any  other  kingdom  in  Syria.  We 
have  already  seen  the  strategic  importance  of  the  location, 
an  importance  which  was  quickly  grasped  by  the  Hittite 
king,  who  made  the  place  the  bulwark  of  his  southern 
frontier. 

Ramses  's  plan  for  the  war  was  like  that  of  his  great  ances- 
tor, Thutmose  III:  he  purposed  first  to  gain  the  coast,  that 
he  might  use  one  of  its  harbours  as  a  base,  enjoying  quick 
and  easy  communication  with  Egypt  by  water.  Our  sources 
tell  us  nothing  of  his  operations  on  the  first  campaign,  when 
this  purpose  was  accomplished.  We  have  only  the  mute 
evidence  of  a  limestone  stela  (Fig.  159)  cut  into  the  face  of 
the  rocks  overlooking  the  Dog  River  near  Berut;  it  is  so 
weathered  that  only  the  name  of  Ramses  II  and  the  date  in 

423 


424 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


the  ' ' year  four"  can  be  read.  It  was  in  that  year,  therefore, 
that  Kamses  pushed  northward  along  the  coast  of  Phoenicia 
to  this  point.1  Unfortunately  for  Ramses,  this  preparatory 
campaign,  however  necessary,  gave  the  Hittite  king,  Metella, 
an  opportunity  to  collect  all  his  resources  and  to  muster  all 
available  forces  from  every  possible  source.  All  the  vassal 
kings  of  his  great  empire  were  compelled  to  contribute  their 
levies  to  his  army.  We  find  among  them  the  old  enemies 
of  Egypt  in  Syria :  the  kings  of  Naharin,  Arvad,  Carchemish, 
Kode,  Kadesh,  Nuges,  Ekereth  ( Ugarit)  and  Aleppo.  Besides 
these,  Metella 's  subject  kingdoms  in  Asia  Minor,  like  Kez- 
weden  and  Pedes,  were  drawn  upon;2  and  not  content  with 
the  army  thus  collected,  he  emptied  his  treasury  to  tempt  the 
mercenaries  of  Asia  Minor  and  the  Mediterranean  islands. 
Roving  bands  of  Lycian  sailors,  such  as  had  plundered  the 
coasts  of  the  Delta  and  of  Cyprus  in  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty, 
besides  Mysians,  Cilicians,  Dardanians,  and  levies  of  the 
unidentified  Erwenet,  took  service  in  the  Hittite  ranks.3  In 
this  manner  Metella  collected  an  army  more  formidable  than 
any  which  Egypt  had  ever  hitherto  been  called  upon  to  meet. 
In  numbers  it  was  large  for  those  times,  containing  probably 
not  less  than  twenty  thousand  men. 

Ramses  on  his  part  had  not  been  less  active  in  securing 
mercenary  support.  From  the  remote  days  of  the  Old  King- 
dom Nubian  levies  had  been  plentifully  sprinkled  through 
the  Egyptian  armies;  one  of  their  tribes,  the  Mazoi,  fur- 
nished gensdarmes-police  for  Ikhnaton's  capital,  and  they 
were  commonly  found  in  similar  service  elsewhere  in  the 
Pharaoh's  realm.  Among  the  troops  used  to  garrison  Syria 
in  the  days  of  the  Amarna  letters  sixty  years  before  we  find 
the  "Sherden,"  or  Sardinians,  who  there  appear  for  the 
first  time  in  history.  These  men  were  now  taken  into 
Ramses'  army  in  considerable  numbers,  so  that  they  con- 
stituted a  recognized  element  in  it,  and  the  king  levied  "his 
infantry,  his  chariotry  and  the  Sherden."4  Ramses  claims 
to  have  taken  them  as  prisoners  in  one  of  his  victories,5  and 

*  III,  297.  2  III,  306.  »  Ibid.  « III,  307.  6  Ibid. 


THE  WARS  OF  RAMSES  II 


425 


doubtless  some  of  them  were  therefore  the  remnants  of 
marauding  bands,  captured  as  they  sailed  in  plundering 
expeditions  along  the  coasts  of  the  western  Delta.1  He  must 
have  commanded  an  army  of  not  less  than  twenty  thousand 
men  all  told,  although  the  proportion  of  mercenaries  is  un- 
known to  us;  nor  is  it  known  what  proportion  of  his  force 
was  chariotry,  as  compared  with  the  infantry.  He  divided 
these  troops  into  four  divisions,  each  named  after  one  of 
the  great  gods:  Amon,  Re,  Ptah  and  Sutekh;  and  himself 
took  personal  command  of  the  division  of  Amon. 2 

About  the  end  of  April  of  his  fifth  year  (1288  B.  C),  when 
the  rains  of  Syria  had  ceased,  Ramses  marched  out  of  Tharu, 
on  his  northeastern  frontier,  at  the  head  of  these  troops. 
The  division  of  Amon,  with  whom  the  Pharaoh  was,  formed 
the  advance,  and  the  other  divisions,  Re,  Ptah  and  Sutekh, 
followed  in  the  order  mentioned.  What  route  Ramses  took 
across  Palestine  it  is  now  impossible  to  determine ;  but  when 
they  reached  the  region  of  Lebanon  they  were  on  the  sea- 
road,  along  the  coast  of  Phoenicia,  which,  as  we  have  seen, 
had  been  secured  in  the  campaign  of  the  year  before.  Here 
Ramses  had,  at  that  time  or  before,  founded  a  city,  which 
bore  his  name,  and  was  evidently  intended  to  serve  as  his 
base  for  the  campaign.  Its  location  is  uncertain,  but  it 
may  have  been  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  the  Dog  River,  where 
his  stela  of  the  previous  year  is  located.  Here  he  formed 
the  van  of  picked  men  and  leaders  of  his  force  and  turned 
inland,  perhaps  up  the  valley  of  the  Dog  River,  although 
a  much  less  precipitous  road  left  the  sea  further  south  and 
would  have  carried  him  up  the  Litany.  He  then  struck 
into  the  valley  of  the  Orontes,  and  marching  down  that  river 
northward  during  the  last  days  of  May,  he  camped  on  the 
night  of  the  twenty  ninth  day  out  from  Tharu,  on  the  last 
and  northernmost  height  of  the  elevated  valley  between  the 
northern  ends  of  the  two  Lebanons,  overlooking  the  vast 
plain  in  which  lay  Kadesh,  only  a  day 's  march  distant,  with 

nil,  491. 

•  For  the  following  account  of  the  battle  of  Kadesh  see  the  documents,  III, 
298-348;  and  my  Battle  of  Kadesh,  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1904. 


426 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Showing  the  "  Height  south  of  Kadesh,"  where  Ramses  camped  the  night 
before  the  battle,  and  his  position  early  on  the  day  of  the  battle. 


THE  WARS  OF  RAMSES  II 


427 


its  battlements  probably  visible  on  the  northern  horizon, 
toward  which  the  Orontes  wound  its  way  across  the  plain. 

The  next  morning  Ramses  broke  camp  early,  and  putting 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  division  of  Amon,  he  left  the 
other  divisions  to  follow  after,  while  he  set  out  down  the 
last  slope  of  the  high  valley  to  the  ford  of  the  Orontes  at 
Shabtuna,  later  known  to  the  Hebrews  as  Ribleh.  Here  the 
river  left  the  precipitous,  canon-like  valley  in  which  it  had 
hitherto  flowed,  and  for  the  first  time  permitted  a  crossing 
to  the  west  side  on  which  Kadesh  was,  thus  enabling  an 
army  approaching  the  city  from  the  south  to  cut  off  a  con- 
siderable bend  in  the  river.  Reaching  the  ford  after  a 
march  of  three  hours  at  most  and  probably  less,  Ramses 
prepared  for  the  crossing.  Day  after  day  his  officers  had 
reported  to  him  their  inability  to  find  any  trace  of  the  enemy 
and  had  added  their  impression  that  he  was  still  far  in  the 
north.  At  this  juncture  two  Beduin  of  the  region  appeared 
and  stated  that  they  had  deserted  from  the  Hittite  ranks, 
and  that  the  Hittite  king  had  retreated  northward  to  the 
district  of  Aleppo,  north  of  Tunip.  In  view  of  the  failure 
of  his  scouting  parties  to  find  the  enemy,  Ramses  readily 
believed  this  story,  immediately  crossed  the  river  with  the 
division  of  Amon  and  pushed  rapidly  on,  while  the  divisions 
of  Re,  Ptah  and  Sutekh,  marching  in  the  order  named, 
straggled  far  behind.  Anxious  to  reach  Kadesh  and  begin 
the  siege  that  day,  the  Pharaoh  even  drew  away  from  the 
division  of  Amon  and  with  no  van  before  him,  accompanied 
only  by  his  household  troops,  was  rapidly  nearing  Kadesh 
as  midday  approached.  Meantime  Metella,  the  Hittite  king, 
had  drawn  up  his  troops  in  battle-array  on  the  northwest 
of  Kadesh,  and  Ramses,  without  hint  of  danger  was  ap- 
proaching the  entire  Hittite  force,  while  the  bulk  of  his 
army  was  scattered  along  the  road  some  eight  or  ten  miles 
in  the  rear,  and  the  officers  of  Re  and  Ptah  were  relaxing 
in  the  shade  of  the  neighbouring  forests  after  the  hot  and 
dusty  march.  The  crafty  Metella,  seeing  that  the  story  of 
his  two  Beduin,  whom  he  had  sent  out  for  the  very  purpose 


428 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Campc. 
Division  a  /  -o- 
of  Am  on  xdV^ 


of  deceiving  Ramses,  had  been  implicitly  accepted,  fully 
appreciated  how  best  to  utilize  the  rare  opportunity.  He 
does  not  attack  Ramses  at  once,  but  as  the  Pharaoh  ap- 
proaches the  city  the  Hittite  quickly  transfers  his  entire 
army  to  the  east  side  of  the  river,  and  while  Ramses  passes 
northward  along  the  west  side  of  Kadesh,  Metella  deftly 
dodges  him,  moving  southward  along  the  east  side  of  the 
city,  always  keeping  it  between  him  and  the  Egyptians  to 
prevent  his  troops  from  being  seen.   As  he  draws  in  on  the 

east  and  southeast  of  the  city  he 
has  secured  a  position  on  Ramses 
flank  which  is  of  itself  enough,  if 
properly  utilized,  to  ensure  him  an 
overwhelming  victory,  even  involv- 
ing the  destruction  of  Ramses  and 
his  army.  The  Egyptian  forces  were 
now  roughly  divided  into  two 
groups :  near  Kadesh  were  the  two 
divisions  of  Amon  and  Re,  while 
far  southward  the  divisions  of  Ptah 
and  Sutekh  have  not  yet  crossed  at 
the  ford  of  Shabtuna.  The  division 
of  Sutekh  was  so  far  away  that 
nothing  more  was  heard  of  it  and  it 
took  no  part  in  the  day's  action. 
Ramses  halted  on  the  northwest  of 
the  city,  not  far  from  and  perhaps 
on  the  very  ground  occupied  by  the 
Asiatic  army  a  short  time  before. 

Here  he  camped  in  the  early  after- 
noon, and  the  division  of  Amon,  com- 
ing up  shortly  afterward,  bivouack- 
ed around  his  tent.  A  barricade 
of  shields  was  erected  around  the 
camp,  and  as  the  provision  trains  came  up  the  oxen  were 
unyoked  and  the  two-wheeled  carts  were  parked  at  one  end 


Asiatics 
— Egyptians 


0  5  Km. 

0  ^  5M. 

Map  9.    The  Battle  of 
Kadesh. 
Positions  of  the  opposing 
forces  at  the  time  of  the 
Asiatic  attack. 


THE  WARS  OF  RAMSES  II 


429 


of  the  enclosure.  The  weary  troops  were  relaxing,  feeding 
their  horses  and  preparing  their  own  meal,  when  two  Asiatic 
spies  were  brought  in  by  Ramses '  scouts  and  taken  to 
the  royal  tent.  Brought  before  Ramses  after  a  merciless 
beating,  they  confessed  that  Metella  and  his  entire  army 
were  concealed  behind  the  city.  Thoroughly  alarmed,  the 
young  Pharaoh  hastily  summoned  his  commanders  and 
officials,  chided  them  bitterly  for  their  inability  to  inform 
him  of  the  presence  of  the  enemy,  and  commanded  the  vizier 
to  bring  up  the  division  of  Ptah  with  all  speed.  In  all 
probability  the  frightened  vizier  himself  undertook  the  dan- 
gerous commission,  in  the  hope  of  retrieving  his  reputation. 
Ramses'  dispatch  to  the  division  of  Ptah  alone,  shows  that 
he  had  no  hope  of  bringing  up  the  division  of  Sutekh,  which 
was,  as  we  have  seen,  straggling  far  in  the  rear  above  Shab- 
tuna.  At  the  same  time  it  discloses  his  confidence  that  the 
division  of  Re,  which  had  been  but  a  few  miles  behind  him 
at  most,  was  within  call  at  the  gates  of  his  camp.  He  there- 
fore at  this  juncture  little  dreamed  of  the  desperate  situa- 
tion into  which  he  had  been  betrayed,  nor  of  the  catastrophe 
which  at  that  very  moment  was  overtaking  the  unfortunate 
division  of  Re.  "Lo,  while  his  majesty  sat  talking  with 
his  nobles, "  rebuking  them  for  their  negligence,  "the  Hit- 
tite  king  came,  together  with  the  numerous  countries  that 
were  with  him,  they  crossed  the  ford  [of  the  Orontes]  on 
the  south  of  Kadesh,"  "they  came  forth  from  the  south 
side  of  Kadesh,  and  they  cut  through  the  division  of  Re  in 
its  middle,  while  it  was  on  the  march,  not  knowing  and  not 
drawn  up  for  battle.' '  A  modern  military  critic  could 
hardly  better  describe,  in  a  word,  what  had  happened  than 
do  these  brief  words  from  the  ancient  account  of  the  affair. 
The  attacking  force  was  entirely  chariotry  and  Ramses' 
marching  infantry  was  of  course  cut  to  pieces  under  the 
assault.  The  southern  portion  of  this  disorganized  division 
must  have  entirely  melted  away,  but  the  rest  fled  northward 
toward  Ramses'  camp  in  a  wild  rout,  having  lost  many  pris- 
oners and  strewing  the  way  with  their  equipments.  They 


430 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


had  at  the  first  moment  sent  a  messenger  to  inform  Ramses 
of  the  catastrophe,  but  in  so  far  as  we  know,  the  first  inti- 
mation received  by  the  Pharaoh  of  the  appalling  disaster 
which  now  faced  him  was  the  headlong  flight  of  these  fugi- 
tives of  the  annihilated  division,  among  whom  were  two  of 
his  own  sons.  They  burst  over  the  barricade  into  the  aston- 
ished camp  with  the  Hittite  chariotry  in  hot  pursuit  close 

upon  their  heels.  Ramses '  heavy 
infantry  guard  quickly  dragged 
these  intruders  from  their  chariots 
and  dispatched  them;  but  behind 
these  was  swiftly  massing  the  whole 
body  of  some  twenty  five  hundred 
Asiatic  chariots.  As  they  pressed 
in  upon  the  Egyptian  position  their 
wings  rapidly  spread,  swelled  out 
on  either  hand  and  enfolded  the 
camp.  The  division  of  Amon,  weary 
with  the  long  and  rapid  march,  in 
total  relaxation  without  arms  and 
without  officers,  was  struck  as  by  an 
avalanche  when  the  fleeing  remnants 
of  the  division  of  Re  swept  through 
the  camp.  They  were  inevitably  in- 
volved in  the  rout  and  carried  along 
with  it  to  the  northward.  The  bulk 
of  Ramses'  available  force  was 
thus  in  flight,  his  southern  divisions 
were  miles  away  and  separated  from 
him  by  the  whole  mass  of  the 
enemy's  chariotry;  the  disaster  was 

second  stage  of  the  battle,  complete. 

Taken  with  but  short  shrift  for  preparation,  the  young 
Pharaoh  hesitated  not  a  moment  in  attempting  to  cut  his 
way  out  and  to  reach  his  southern  columns.  With  only  his 
household  troops,  his  immediate  followers  and  the  officers, 
who  happened  to  be  at  his  side,  he  mounted  his  waiting 


5Km. 


U  5M. 

Map  10.    The  Battle  of 
Kadesh. 
Showing  Ramses  II's  di- 
vided forces  and  his  envelop- 
ment by  the  enemy  in  the 


THE  AVARS  OF  RAMSES  II 


431 


chariot  and  boldy  charged  into  the  advance  of  the  Hittite 
pursuit  as  it  poured  into  his  camp  on  the  west  side.  The 
instant's  respite  thus  gained  he  utilized  to  push  out  on  the 
west  or  south  side  of  his  camp  a  few  paces  and  there,  per- 
ceiving how  heavily  the  enemy  was  massed  before  him, 
immediately  understood  that  further  onset  in  that  direction 
was  hopeless.  Retiring  into  the  camp  again,  he  must  have 
noted  how  thin  was  the  eastern  wing  of  the  surrounding 
chariots  along  the  river  where  there  had  not  yet  been  time 
for  the  enemy  to  strengthen  their  line.  As  a  forlorn  hope 
he  charged  this  line  with  an  impetuosity  that  hurled  the 
Asiatics  in  his  immediate  front  pell-mell  into  the  river. 
Metella,  standing  on  the  opposite  shore  amid  a  mass  of 
eight  thousand  infantry,  saw  several  of  his  officers,  his 
personal  scribe,  his  charioteer,  the  chief  of  his  body-guard 
and  finally  even  his  own  royal  brother  go  down  before  the 
Pharaoh's  furious  onset.  Among  many  rescued  from 
the,  water  by  their  comrades  on  the  opposite  shore  was  the 
half  drowned  king  of  Aleppo,  who  was  with  difficulty  resus- 
citated by  his  troops.  Again  and  again  Ramses  renewed  the 
charge,  finally  producing  serious  discomfiture  in  the  enemy's 
line  at  this  point.  At  this  juncture  an  incident  common  in 
oriental  warfare  saved  Ramses  from  total  destruction.  Had 
the  mass  of  the  Hittite  chariotry  swept  in  upon  his  rear 
from  the  west  and  south  he  must  certainly  have  been  lost. 
But  to  his  great  good  fortune  his  camp  had  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  these  troops  and,  dismounting  from  their  chariots, 
they  had  thrown  discipline  to  the  winds  as  they  gave  them- 
selves up  to  the  rich  plunder.  Thus  engaged,  they  were 
suddenly  fallen  upon  by  a  body  of  Ramses'  recruits  who 
may  possibly  have  marched  in  from  the  coast  to  join  his 
army  at  Kadesh.  At  any  rate,  they  did  not  belong  to  either 
of  the  southern  divisions.  They  completely  surprised  the 
plundering  Asiatics  in  the  camp  and  slew  them  to  a  man. 

The  sudden  offensive  of  Ramses  along  the  river  and  the 
unexpected  onslaught  of  the  "recruits"  must  have  consider- 
ably dampened  the  ardour  of  the  Hittite  attack,  giving  the 


432 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Pharaoh  an  opportunity  to  recover  himself.  These  newly 
arrived  "recruits/'  together  with  the  returning  fugitives 
from  the  unharmed  but  scattered  division  of  Anion,  so  aug- 
mented his  power  that  there  was  now  a  prospect  of  his 
maintaining  himself  till  the  arrival  of  the  division  of  Ptah. 
The  stubborn  defense  which  now  followed  forced  the  Hittite 
king  to  throw  in  his  reserves  of  a  thousand  chariots.  Six 
times  the  desperate  Pharaoh  charged  into  the  replenished 
lines  of  the  enemy,  but  for  some  reason  Metella  did  not  send 
against  him  the  eight  thousand  foot  which  he  had  stationed 
on  the  east  side  of  the  river  opposite  Ramses '  position; 
and  the  struggle  remained  a  battle  of  chariotry  as  long  as 
we  can  trace  it.  For  three  long  hours,  by  prodigies  of 
personal  valour,  the  Pharaoh  kept  his  scanty  forces  together, 
throwing  many  an  anxious  glance  southward  toward  the 
road  from  Shabtuna,  along  which  the  division  of  Ptah 
was  toiling  in  response  to  his  message.  Finally,  as  the  long 
afternoon  wore  on  and  the  sun  was  low  in  the  west,  the  stand- 
ards of  Ptah  glimmering  through  the  dust  and  heat  glad- 
dened the  eyes  of  the  weary  Pharaoh.  Caught  between  the 
opposing  lines,  the  Hittite  chariotry  was  driven  into  the 
city,  probably  with  considerable  loss;  but  our  sources  do 
not  permit  us  to  follow  these  closing  incidents  of  the  battle. 
As  evening  drew  on  the  enemy  took  refuge  in  the  city  and 
Ramses  was  saved.  The  prisoners  taken  were  led  before 
him  while  he  reminded  his  followers  that  these  captives  had 
been  brought  off  by  himself  almost  single  handed. 

The  records  describe  how  the  scattered  Egyptian  fugi- 
tives crept  back  and  found  the  plain  strewn  with  Asiatic 
dead,  especially  of  the  personal  and  official  circle  about 
the  Hittite  king.  This  was  undoubtedly  true;  the  Asiatics 
must  have  lost  heavily  in  Ramses'  camp,  on  the  river  north 
of  the  city  and  at  the  arrival  of  the  division  of  Ptah;  but 
Ramses'  loss  was  certainly  also  very  heavy,  and  in  view 
of  the  disastrous  surprise  of  the  division  of  Re,  probably 
much  greater  than  that  of  his  enemies.  What  made  the 
Issue  a  success  for  Ramses  was  his  salvation  from  utter 


THE  WARS  OF  RAMSES  II 


433 


destruction,  and  that  he  eventually  held  possession  of  the 
field  added  little  practical  advantage. 

One  of  the  Egyptian  accounts  claims  that  Ramses  re- 
newed the  action  on  the  following  day  with  such  effect  that 
Metella  sent  a  letter  craving  peace,  whereupon  the  request 
was  granted  by  the  Pharaoh  who  then  returned  in  triumph 
to  Egypt.  The  other  sources  make  no  reference  to  the 
second  day's  action  and  the  events  of  the  battle  which  we 
have  just  followed  make  it  evident  that  Ramses  would  have 
been  glad  enough  to  secure  a  respite  and  lead  his  shattered 
forces  back  to  Egypt.  None  of  his  records  makes  any  claim 
that  he  captured  Kadesh,  as  is  so  frequently  stated  in  the 
current  histories. 

Once  safely  extricated  from  the  perilous  position  into 
which  his  rashness  had  betrayed  him,  Ramses  was  very 
proud  of  his  exploit  at  Kadesh.  Throughout  Egypt  on 
his  more  important  buildings  he  had  over  and  over  de- 
picted what  were  to  him  and  his  fawning  courtiers  the 
most  important  incidents  of  the  battle.  On  the  temple 
walls  at  Abu  Simbel,  at  Derr,  at  the  Ramesseum,  his  mor- 
tuary temple  at  Thebes,  at  Luxor,  at  Karnak,  at  Abydos 
and  probably  on  other  buildings  now  perished  his  artists 
executed  a  vast  series  of  vivacious  reliefs  depicting  Ram- 
ses' damp,  the  arrival  of  his  fugitive  sons,  the  Pharaoh's 
furious  charge  down  to  the  river  and  the  arrival  of  the 
recruits  who  rescued  the  camp.  Before  Ramses  the  plain 
is  strewn  with  dead,  among  whom  the  accompanying  bits 
of  explanatory  inscription  furnish  the  identity  of  the 
notable  personages  whom  we  mentioned  above.  On  the  op- 
posite shore  where  their  comrades  draw  the  fugitives  from 
the  water  a  tall  figure  held  head  downward  that  he  may  dis- 
gorge the  water  which  he  has  swallowed  is  accompanied  by 
the  words:  4 'The  wretched  chief  of  Aleppo,  turned  upside 
down  by  his  soldiers,  after  his  majesty  had  hurled  him  into 
the  water"  (Fig.  160).  These  sculptures  are  better  known 
to  modern  travellers  in  Egypt  than  any  other  like  monu- 
ments in  the  country.  They  are  twice  accompanied  by  a 
28 


434 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


report  on  the  battle  which  reads  like  an  official  document. 
There  early  arose  a  poem  on  the  battle,  of  which  we  shall 
later  have  more  to  say.  The  ever  repeated  refrain  in  all 
these  records  is  the  valiant  stand  of  the  young  Pharaoh 
' 'while  he  was  alone,  having  no  army  with  him.''  These 
sources  have  enabled  us  to  trace  with  certainty  the  maneu- 
vres  which  led  up  to  the  battle  of  Kadesh,  the  first  battle 
in  history  which  can  be  so  studied;  and  this  fact  must 
serve  as  our  justification  for  treating  it  at  such  length.  We 
see  that  already  in  the  thirteenth  century  B.  C.  the  com- 
manders of  the  time  understood  the  value  of  placing  troops 
advantageously  before  battle.   The  immense  superiority  to 


Fig.  160.    Scene  from  the  Reliefs  of  the  Battle  of  Kadesh. 


The  Asiatics  fleeing  across  the  Orontes,  are  drawn  from  the  water  by  their 
comrades  on  the  farther  shore.  The  king  of  Aleppo  is  held  head  downward 
by  his  soldiers,  that  he  may  disgorge  the  water  he  has  swallowed. 

be  gained  by  clever  maneuvres  masked  from  the  enemy  was 
clearly  comprehended  by  the  Hittite  king  when  he  executed 
the  first  flank  movement  of  which  we  hear  in  the  early  orient ; 
and  the  plains  of  Syria,  already  at  that  remote  epoch,  wit- 


THE  WARS  OF  RAMSES  II 


435 


nessed  notable  examples  of  that  supposedly  modern  science, 
which  was  brought  to  such  perfection  by  Xapoleon,— the 
science  of  winning  the  victory  before  the  battle. 

Arrived  in  Thebes,  Ramses  enjoyed  the  usual  triumph 
in  the  state  temple,  accompanied  by  four  of  his  sons,  as  he 
offered  to  the  gods  the  "captives  from  the  northern  coun- 
tries, who  came  to  overthrow  his  majesty,  whom  his 
majesty  slew  and  whose  subjects  he  brought  as  living  cap- 
tives to  fill  the  storehouse  of  his  father,  Amon."1  He 
assumed  among  his  titles  on  his  monuments  the  phrase, 
"Prostrator  of  the  lands  and  countries  while  he  was  alone, 
having  no  other  with  him."2  While  he  might  satisfy  his 
vanity  with  such  conventional  honours  and  take  great  satis- 
faction in  the  reputation  for  personal  valour  which  the  ex- 
ploit at  Kadesh  undoubtedly  brought  him;  yet  when  he 
came  to  weigh  and  seriously  consider  the  situation  which 
he  had  left  in  Syria  he  must  have  felt  dark  forebodings 
for  the  future  of  Egyptian  power  in  Asia.  The  moral  effect 
of  his  return  to  Egypt  immediately  after  the  battle  without 
even  laying  siege  to  Kadesh,  and  having  lost  nearly  a  whole 
division  of  his  army,  even  though  he  had  shown  a  brilliant 
defense,  could  only  be  subversive  of  Egyptian  influence 
among  the  dynasts  of  Syria  and  Palestine.  Xor  would 
the  Hittites  fail  to  make  every  possible  use  of  the  doubtful 
battle  to  undermine  that  influence  and  stir  up  revolt.  Seti  I 
had  secured  northern  Palestine  as  Egyptian  territory,  and 
this  region  was  so  near  the  valley  of  the  Orontes  that  the 
emissaries  of  the  Hittites  had  little  difficulty  in  exciting  it 
to  revolt.  The  rising  spread  southward  to  the  very  gates 
of  Ramses'  frontier  forts  in  the  northeastern  Delta.  We 
see  him,  therefore,  far  from  increasing  the  conquests  of 
his  father,  obliged  to  begin  again  at  the  very  bottom  to  re- 
build the  Egyptian  empire  in  Asia  and  recover  by  weary 
campaigns  even  the  territory  which  his  father  had  won. 
Our  sources  for  this  period  are  very  scanty  and  the  order 
of  events  is  not  wholly  certain,  but  Ramses  seems  first  to 


i  III,  351. 


2  Battle  of  Kadesh,  p.  47. 


436 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


have  attacked  the  later  Philistine  city  of  Askalon  and  taken 
it  by  storm.1  By  his  eighth  year  he  had  forced  his  way 
through  to  northern  Palestine,  and  we  then  find  him  taking 
and  plundering  the  cities  of  western  Galilee,  one  after  an- 
other.2 Here  he  came  in  contact  with  the  Hittite  outposts, 
which  had  been  pushed  far  southward  since  the  day  of 
Kadesh.  He  found  a  Hittite  garrison  in  the  strong  town 
of  Deper,  which  seems  to  be  the  Tabor  of  Hebrew  history; 
but  assisted  by  his  sons  he  assaulted  and  took  the  place,3 
and  the  Hittite  occupation  of  the  region  could  have  endured 
but  a  short  time.  It  was  perhaps  at  this  time  that  he  pene- 
trated into  the  Hauran  and  the  region  east  of  the  Sea  of 
Galilee  and  left  a  stela  there  recording  his  visit.4 

Having  thus  in  three  years  recovered  Palestine,  Ramses 
was  again  at  liberty  to  take  up  his  ambitious  designs  in 
Asia  at  the  point  where  he  had  begun  them  four  years 
earlier.  The  vigour  with  which  he  now  pushed  his  campaigns 
is  quite  evident  in  the  results  which  he  achieved,  although 
we  are  entirely  unable  to  follow  their  course.  Advancing 
again  down  the  valley  of  the  Orontes,  he  must  have  finally 
succeeded  in  dislodging  the  Hittites.  None  of  the  scanty 
records  of  the  time  states  this  fact;  but  as  he  made  con- 
quests far  north  of  Kadesh  that  place  must  certainly  have 
fallen  into  his  hands.  In  Naharin  he  conquered  the  country 
as  far  as  Tunip,  which  he  also  reduced  and  placed  a  statue 
of  himself  there.5  But  these  places  had  been  too  long  ex- 
empt from  tribute  to  the  Pharaoh  to  take  kindly  to  his 
yoke.  Moreover,  they  were  now  occupied  by  Hittites,  who 
possibly  continued  to  reside  there  under  the  rule  of  Ramses. 
In  any  case,  the  Hittites  soon  stirred  the  region  to  revolt 
and  Ramses  found  them  in  Tunip,  when  he  again  came  north 
to  recover  them.  In  this  it  would  seem  that  he  was  success- 
ful, and  in  storming  Tunip  he  again  met  with  some  adven- 
ture involving  his  fighting  without  his  coat-of-mail ;  but 
the  record  is  unhappily  too  fragmentary  to  disclose  the 

i  III,  355.      2  III,  356.      3  III,  357,  359-60.      *  III,  358.      «  III,  365. 


THE  WARS  OF  RAMSES  II 


437 


exact  nature  of  his  exploit.1  His  lists  credit  him  with  hav- 
ing subdued  Naharin,  Lower  Eetenu  (North  Syria),  Arvad, 
the  Keftyew  and  Ketne  in  the  Orontes  valley.2  It  is  thus 
evident  that  Ramses'-  ability  and  tenacity  as  a  soldier  had 
now  really  endangered  the  Hittite  empire  in  Syria,  although 
it  is  very  uncertain  whether  he  succeeded  in  holding  these 
northern  conquests. 

When  he  had  been  thus  campaigning  probably  some 
fifteen  years  an  important  event  in  the  internal  history  of 
the  Hittite  empire  brought  his  wars  in  Asia  to  a  sudden 
and  final  end.  Metella,  the  Hittite  king,  either  died  in 
battle  or  at  the  hands  of  a  rival,  and  his  brother,  Khetasar, 
succeeded  him  upon  the  throne.3  Khetasar,  who  may  have 
had  quite  enough  to  do  at  home  to  maintain  himself  with- 
out carrying  on  a  dangerous  war  with  Ramses  for  the 
possession  of  northern  Syria,  proposed  to  the  Pharaoh  a 
permanent  peace  and  a  treaty  of  alliance.  In  Ramses ' 
twenty  first  year  (1272  B.  C.)  Khetasar 's  messengers  bear- 
ing the  treaty  reached  the  Egyptian  court,  now  in  the 
Delta,  as  we  shall  later  see.  The  treaty  which  they  bore 
had  of  course  been  drafted  in  advance  and  accepted  by 
representatives  of  the  two  countries,  for  it  was  now  in  its 
final  form.  It  contained  eighteen  paragraphs  inscribed 
on  a  silver  tablet,  surmounted  by  a  representation  showing 
engraved  or  inlaid  figures  of  "Sutekh  embracing  the  like- 
ness of  the  great  chief  of  Kheta";  and  of  a  goddess  simi- 
larly embracing  the  figure  of  Khetasar 's  queen,  Putukhipa; 
while  beside  these  were  the  seals  of  Sutekh  of  Kheta,  Re 
of  Ernen,  as  well  as  those  of  the  two  royal  personages. 
It  is  to  be  supposed  that  the  Hittite  king  received  a  similar 
copy  of  the  document  from  Ramses.  This  earliest  surviving 
international  treaty  bore  the  title:  "The  treaty  which  the 
great  chief  of  Kheta,  Khetasar,  the  valiant,  the  son  of 
Merasar,  the  great  chief  of  Kheta,  the  valiant,  the  grand- 
son of  Seplel,  the  great  chief  of  Kheta,  the  valiant,  made, 
upon  a  silver  tablet  for  Usermare-Setepnere  [Ramses  II], 

1111,364-5.  «III,  366.  *  III,  375,  1.  10. 


438 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


the  great  ruler  of  Egypt,  the  valiant,  the  son  of  Seti  I,  the 
great  ruler  of  Egypt,  the  valiant ;  the  grandson  of  Ramses  I, 
the  great  ruler  of  Egypt,  the  valiant;  the  good  treaty  of  peace 
and  of  brotherhood,  setting  peace  between  them  forever.''1 
It  then  proceeded  to  review  the  former  relations  between 
the  two  countries,  passed  then  to  a  general  definition  of 
the  present  pact,  and  thus  to  its  special  stipulations.  Of 
these  the  most  important  were:  the  renunciation  by  both 
rulers  of  all  projects  of  conquest  against  the  other,  the 
reaffirmation  of  the  former  treaties  existing  between  the 
two  countries,  a  defensive  alliance  involving  the  assistance 
of  each  against  the  other's  foes ;  cooperation  in  the  chastise- 
ment of  delinquent  subjects,  probably  in  Syria;  and  the 
extradition  of  political  fugitives  and  immigrants.  A  codicil 
provides  for  the  humane  treatment  of  these  last.  A  thou- 
sand gods  and  goddesses  of  the  land  of  the  Hittites,  and 
the  same  number  from  the  land  of  Egypt  are  called  upon  to 
witness  the  compact;  some  of  the  more  important  Hittite 
divinities  being  mentioned  by  the  names  of  their  cities. 
The  remarkable  document  closes  with  a  curse  on  the  violat- 
ors of  the  treaty  and  a  blessing  upon  those  who  should  keep 
it ;  or  would  logically  so  close  save  that  the  codicil  already 
mentioned  is  here  attached.  Ramses  immediately  had  two 
copies  of  the  treaty  engraved  on  the  walls  of  his  temples  at 
Thebes,  preceded  by  an  account  of  the  coming  of  the  Hittite 
messengers,  and  followed  by  a  description  of  the  figures 
and  other  representations  depicted  on  the  silver  tablet.2 
Recently  a  preliminary  draught  of  the  Hittite  copy  in 
cuneiform  on  a  clay  tablet,  was  found  by  Winckler  at 
Boghaz-koi  in  Asia  Minor. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  treaty  nowhere  refers  to  the 
boundary  recognized  by  both  countries  in  Syria ;  and  we  can 
only  suppose  that  it  may  have  been  contained  in  one  of  the 
earlier  treaties  reaffirmed  by  it.  It  is  difficult  to  determine 
the  exact  location  of  this  boundary.  The  cuneiform  docu- 
ments found  by  Winckler  at  Boghaz-koi  since  1906  (see  p. 

i  III,  373.  2  III,  367-391. 


THE  WARS  OF  RAMSES  II 


439 


381)  show  that  the  Hittite  kings  continued  to  control  Amor 
on  the  upper  Orontes.  It  is  not  safe  to  affirm  that  he  had 
permanently  advanced  the  boundary  of  his  father's  king- 
dom in  Asia,  save  probably  on  the  coast,  where  he  carved 
two  more  stelas  on  the  rocks  near  Berut,  beside  that  of  his 
fourth  year,  with  which  we  are  already  acquainted.1  The 
Hittite  king  is  recognized  in  the  treaty  as  on  an  equality 
with  the  Pharaoh  and  receives  the  same  conditions ;  but  as 
commonly  in  the  orient  the  whole  transaction  was  inter- 
preted by  Ramses  on  his  monuments  as  a  great  triumph  for 
himself,  and  he  now  constantly  designated  himself  as  the 
conqueror  of  the  Hittites.2  Once  consummated,  the  peace 
was  kept,  and  although  it  involved  the  sacrifice  of  Ramses' 
ambitions  for  conquest  in  Asia,  the  treaty  must  have  been 
ontirely  satisfactory  to  both  the  parties.  Thirteen  years 
later  (1259  B.  C.)  the  Hittite  king  himself  visited  Egypt 
to  consummate  the  marriage  of  his  eldest  daughter  as  the 
wife  of  Ramses.  Bearing  rich  gifts  in  a  brilliant  proces- 
sion, with  his  daughter  at  its  head,  Khetasar,  accompanied 
by  the  king  of  Kode,  appeared  in  Ramses'  palace,3  and  his 
military  escort  mingled  with  the  Egyptian  troops  whom 
they  had  once  fought  upon  the  Syrian  plains.  The  Hittite 
princess  was  given  an  Egyptian  name,  Matnefrure,  "Who 
Sees  the  Beauty  of  Re,"  and  assumed  a  prominent  position 
at  court. 

The  visit  of  her  father  was  depicted  on  the  front  of 
Ramses'  temple  at  Abusimbel,  with  accompanying  narra- 
tive inscriptions,4  and  she  was  given  a  statue  beside  her 
royal  husband  in  Tanis.5  Court  poets  celebrated  the  event 
and  pictured  the  Hittite  king  as  sending  to  the  king  of  Kode 
and  summoning  him  to  join  in  the  journey  to  Egypt  that 
they  might  do  honour  to  the  Pharaoh.6  They  averred  that 
Ptah  revealed  himself  to  Ramses  as  the  divine  agent  in  the 
happy  affair:  "I  have  made  the  land  of  Kheta,"  said  the 
god  to  him,  "into  subjects  of  thy  palace;  I  have  put  it 

i  See  above,  p.  423.  *  III..  392.  3  III,  410,  420,  424. 

*III,  394-424.  5  III,  41G-417.  6  ni,  425-6. 


440 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


into  their  hearts  to  present  themselves  with  fearful  steps 
before  thee  bearing  their  impost,  which  their  chiefs  have 
captured,  all  their  possessions  as  tribute  to  the  fame  of 
his  majesty.  His  eldest  daughter  is  in  front  thereof  to  sat- 
isfy the  heart  of  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands."1  The  event 
made  a  popular  impression  also,  and  a  folk-tale,  which  was 
not  put  into  writing,  so  far  as  we  know,  until  Greek  times, 
began  with  the  marriage  and  told  how  afterward,  at  the 
request  of  her  father,  an  image  of  the  Theban  Khonsu  was 
sent  to  the  land  of  the  princess,  that  the  god's  power 
might  drive  forth  the  evil  spirits  from  her  afflicted  sister. 
The  land  of  the  Hittite  princess  is  called  Bekhten,  probably 
meaning  Bactria;  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  some  such 
occurrence  took  place  during  the  intercourse  between 
Khetasar  and  Ramses.2  In  any  event  the  friendly  relations 
between  the  two  kingdoms  continued  without  interruption, 
and  it  is  even  probable  that  Ramses  received  a  second 
daughter  of  Khetasar  in  marriage.3  Throughout  Ramses' 
long  reign  the  treaty  remained  unbroken  and  the  peace  con- 
tinued at  least  into  the  reign  of  his  successor,  Merneptah. 

Ramses'  conflict  with  the  Hittites,  involving  probably 
fifteen  or  sixteen  years  of  severe  campaigning  in  Asia, 
constitutes  the  basis  of  the  claim  to  a  high  place  as  a  soldier 
usually  advanced  in  his  behalf.  His  only  battle  which  we 
can  closely  follow  bears  unmistakable  testimony  to  his 
bravery,  but  does  not  exhibit  him  as  a  skilful  commander. 
From  the  day  of  the  peace  compact  with  Khetasar,  Ramses 
was  never  called  upon  to  enter  the  field  again.  Perhaps 
as  early  as  his  second  year  he  had  quelled  unimportant 
revolts  in  Nubia,4  and  these  continued  after  the  Hittite 
war,5  but  it  is  not  known  that  any  of  these  Nubian  expedi- 
tions was  ever  conducted  by  him  in  person.  A  Libyan  cam- 
paign is  often  vaguely  referred  to  on  his  monuments,  and 
it  is  probable  that  Sherden  sea-rovers  were  involved  with 
the  Libyans  in  aggressions  upon  Ramses'  western  Delta 

»  III,  410.     *  III,  429-447.     »  III,  427-8.     *  III,  478.     «  III,  448-490. 


THE  WARS  OF  RAMSES  II 


441 


frontier,1  but  we  can  gather  nothing  as  to  the  character 
of  this  war. 

With  the  Asiatic  campaigns  of  Kamses  II  the  military 
aggressiveness  of  Egypt  which  had  been  awakened  under 
Ahmose  I  in  the  expulsion  of  the  Hyksos  was  completely 
exhausted.  Nor  did  it  ever  revive.  It  was  with  mercenary 
forces  and  under  the  influence  of  foreign  blood  in  the  royal 
family  that  sporadic  attempts  to  recover  Syria  and  Pales- 
tine were  made  in  later  times.  Henceforward  for  a  long 
time  the  Pharaoh's  army  is  but  a  weapon  of  defense  against 
foreign  aggression ;  a  weapon,  however,  which  he  was  him- 
self unable  to  control,  — and  before  which  the  venerable 
line  of  Re  was  finally  to  disappear. 

i  HI,  491. 


CHAPTER  XXII 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  RAMSES  II 

The  dominance  of  Egypt  in  Asiatic  affairs  had  irresist- 
ibly drawn  the  centre  of  power  on  the  Nile  from  Thebes 
to  the  Delta.  Ikhnaton  had  rudely  broken  with  the  tradi- 
tion of  the  Empire  that  the  Pharaoh  must  reside  at  Thebes. 
It  is  probable  that  Harmhab  returned  thither  but  we  have 
seen  that  after  the  rise  of  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty  Seti  I 
was  obliged  to  spend  the  early  part  of  his  reign  in  the  north, 
and  we  find  him  residing  for  months  in  the  Delta.1  Ramses 
II 's  projects  of  conquest  in  Asia  finally  forced  the  entire 
abandonment  of  Thebes  as  the  royal  residence.  It  remained 
the  religious  capital  of  the  state  and  at  the  greater  feasts 
in  its  temple  calendar  the  Pharaoh  was  often  present,  but 
his  permanent  residence  was  in  the  north.  His  constant 
presence  here  resulted  in  a  development  of  the  cities  of  the 
eastern  Delta  such  as  they  had  never  before  enjoyed.  Tanis 
became  a  great  and  flourishing  city,  with  a  splendid  temple, 
the  work  of  Ramses'  architects.  High  above  its  massive 
pylons  towered  a  monolithic  granite  colossus  of  Ramses, 
over  ninety  feet  in  height,  weighing  nine  hundred  tons,  and 
visible  across  the  level  country  of  the  surrounding  Delta  for 
many  miles.2  The  Wadi  Tumilat,  along  which  the  canal 
from  the  Nile  eastward  to  the  Bitter  Lakes  probably  already 
ran,  forming  a  natural  approach  to  Egypt  from  Asia,  was 
also  the  object  of  Ramses'  careful  attention,  and  he  built 
upon  it,  half  way  out  to  the  Isthmus  of  Suez,  a  "store-city,'' 
which  he  called  Pithom,  or  "House  of  Atum."  At  its  wes- 
tern end  he  and  Seti  founded  a  city  just  north  of  Heliopolis, 
now  known  as  Tell  el-Yehudiyeh.  Somewhere  in  the  eastern 
Delta  he  founded  a  residence  city,  Per-Eamses,  or  "House 

i  III,  «2,  2.  2  Petrie,  Tanis,  I,  22-4. 

442 


Fig.  161.— FRAGMENTS  OF  THOUSAND-TON  COLOSSUS  OF  RAMSES  II. 
Yrcrz  a  sitting  statue  of  elephantine  granite  erected  before  the  second  pylon  of  the  Ramesseum. 


Fig.  162.— STORE  CHAMBERS  AT  PITHOM. 


Part  of  a  city  affirmed  by  the  Hebrew  tradition  to  have  been  built  by  them.    See  pp.  446-47. 
(Stereograph,  copyright  by  Underwood  &  Underwood.) 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  RAMSES  II 


443 


of  Kamses. "  Its  location  is  not  certain,  although  it  has 
often  been  thought  to  be  identical  with  Tanis;  but  it  must 
have  been  close  to  the  eastern  frontier,  for  a  poet  of  the 
time  singing  of  its  beauties  refers  to  it  as  being  between 
Egypt  and  Syria.  It  was  also  accessible  to  seafaring  traffic. 
Per-Ramses  became  the  seat  of  government  and  all  records 
of  state  were  deposited  there;  but  the  vizier  resided  at 
Heliopolis.1  Ramses  himself  was  one  of  the  gods  of  the 
city.  Through  these  cities  and  Ramses'  other  great  enter- 
prises in  this  region  the  central  portion  of  the  eastern  Delta 
became  known  as  "the  land  of  Ramses,"  a  name  so  com- 
pletely identified  with  the  region  that  Hebrew  tradition  read 
it  back  into  the  days  of  Joseph  and  his  kindred,  before  any 
Ramses  had  ever  sat  on  the  throne.  If  the  flourishing  devel- 
opment now  enjoyed  by  the  Delta  was  an  almost  unavoid- 
able accompaniment  of  Ramses'  projects  in  Asia,  his  ener- 
getic spirit  was  not  less  felt  throughout  the  kingdom,  where 
no.  such  motives  operated.  Of  his  buildings  at  Heliopolis 
nothing  remains,  and  only  the  scantiest  fragments  of  his 
temples  at  Memphis  have  survived.2  We  have  already 
noticed  his  extensive  building  operations  at  Abydos,  in  the 
completion  of  his  father's  splendid  temple  there.  With 
this  he  was  not  content,  but  erected  also  his  own  mortuary 
temple  not  far  from  that  of  Seti.  At  Thebes  he  spent  enor- 
mous treasure  and  vast  resources  of  labour  in  the  comple- 
tion of  his  father's  mortuary  temple,  another  beautiful  sanc- 
tuary for  his  own  mortuary  service,  known  to  all  visitors 
at  Thebes  as  the  Ramesseum;  a  large  court  and  pylon  in 
enlargement  of  the  Luxor  temple;  while,  surpassing  in  size 
all  buildings  of  the  ancient  or  modern  world,  his  architects 
completed  the  colossal  colonnaded  hall  of  the  Karnak  temple, 
already  begun  under  the  first  Ramses,  the  Pharaoh's  grand- 
father. Few  of  the  great  temples  of  Egypt  have  not  some 
chamber,  hall,  colonnade  or  pylon  which  bears  his  name,  in 
perpetuating  which  the  king  stopped  at  no  desecration  or 
destruction  of  the  ancient  monuments  of  the  country.  A 


1  Mes  Inscription. 


2  III,  530-37. 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  RAMSES  II 


445 


building  of  king  Teti  of  the  Sixth  Dynasty  furnished  mate- 
rial for  Ramses 's  temple  at  Memphis;1  he  ransacked  the 
pyramid  of  Sesostris  II  at  Illahun,  tore  up  the  pavement 
around  it  and  smashed  its  beautiful  monuments  to  obtain 
materials  for  his  own  neighbouring  temple  at  Heracleopolis.2 
In  the  Delta  he  was  equally  unscrupulous  in  the  use  of  Middle 
Kingdom  monuments,  while  to  make  room  for  his  enlarge- 
ment of  the  Luxor  temple  he  razed  an  exquisite  granite 
chapel  of  Thutmose  III,  reusing  the  materials,  with  the 
name  of  Thutmose  thereon  turned  inward.  Numberless 
were  the  monuments  of  his  ancestors  on  which  he  placed 
his  own  name.  But  in  spite  of  these  facts,  his  own  legiti- 
mate building  was  on  a  scale  quite  surpassing  in  size  and 
extent  anything  that  his  ancestors  had  ever  accomplished. 
The  buildings  which  he  erected  were  filled  with  innumerable 
supplementary  monuments,  especially  colossal  statues  of 
himself  and  obelisks.  The  former  are  the  greatest  mono- 
lithic statues  ever  executed.  We  have  already  referred  to 
the  tallest  of  these  in  the  temple  at  Tanis ;  there  was  another 
granite  monolith  towering  over  the  pylons  of  the  Rames- 
seum  at  Thebes  (Fig.  161)  which,  although  not  so  high, 
weighed  about  a  thousand  tons.  As  the  years  passed  and 
he  celebrated  jubilee  after  jubilee  the  obelisks  which  he 
erected  in  commemoration  of  these  festivals  rapidly  rose 
among  his  temples.  At  Tanis  alone  he  erected  no  less  than 
fourteen,  all  of  which  are  now  prostrate;  three  at  least  of 
his  obelisks  are  in  Rome;  and  of  the  two  which  he  erected 
in  Luxor,  one  is  in  Paris.3  Besides  the  wealth  involved  in 
its  erection,  every  such  temple  demanded  a  rich  endow- 
ment. After  telling  how  his  Abydos  temple  was  built  of 
fine  limestone,  with  granite  door-posts  and  doors  of  copper 
wrought  with  silver-gold  alloy,  Ramses  says  of  its  endow- 
ment that  there  were  "established  for  him  (the  god)  per- 
manent daily  offerings,  at  the  beginnings  of  the  seasons,  all 
feasts  at  their  times.  ...  He  (Ramses)  filled  it  with  every- 

1  Annates,  III,  29 

•Petrie,  Illahun,  p.  4;  Kahun,  p  22;  Naville,  Annas,  pp.  2,  9-11,  pi.  1. 
•Ill,  543-9. 


446 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


thing,  overflowing  with  food  and  provision,  bulls,  calves, 
oxen,  geese,  bread,  wine,  fruit.  It  was  filled  with  peasant 
slaves,  doubled  in  its  fields,  made  numerous  in  its  herds ;  the 
granaries  were  filled  to  overflowing,  the  grain-heaps  ap- 
proached heaven,  .  .  .  for  the  store-house  of  divine  offer- 
ings, from  the  captivity  of  his  victorious  sword.  His  treas- 
ury was  filled  with  every  costly  stone :  silver,  gold  in  blocks ; 
the  magazine  was  filled  with  everything  from  the  tribute  of 
all  countries.  He  planted  many  gardens,  set  with  every 
kind  of  tree,  all  sweet  and  fragrant  woods,  the  plants  of 
Punt."1  This  was  for  the  equipment  of  one  temple  only; 
similar  endowment  for  all  his  numerous  temples  must  have 
been  a  serious  economic  problem. 

Notwithstanding  the  shift  of  the  centre  of  gravity  north- 
ward, the  south  was  not  neglected.  In  Nubia  Ramses 
became  the  patron  deity ;  no  less  than  six  new  temples  arose 
there,  dedicated  to  the  great  gods  of  Egypt,  Amon,  Re,  and 
Ptah;  but  in  all  of  them  Ramses  was  more  or  less  promi- 
nently worshipped,  and  in  one  his  queen,  Nefretiri,  was 
the  presiding  divinity.  Of  his  Nubian  sanctuaries,  the 
great  rock-temple  at  Abu  Simbel  is  the  finest  and  deservedly 
the  goal  of  modern  travellers  in  Egypt.  Nubia  became  more 
and  more  Egyptianized,  and  between  the  first  and  second 
cataracts  the  country  had  received  an  indelible  impression 
of  Pharaonic  civilization.  Here  the  old  native  chiefs  had 
practically  disappeared,  the  administrative  officials  of  the 
Pharaoh  were  in  complete  control,  and  there  was  even  an 
Egyptian  court  of  justice,  with  the  viceroy  as  chief  judge.3 

Ramses'  great  building  enterprises  were  not  achieved 
without  vast  expense  of  resources,  especially  those  of  labour. 
While  he  was  unable  to  draw  upon  Asia  for  captive  labour 
as  extensively  as  his  great  predecessors  of  the  Eighteenth 
Dynasty,  yet  his  building  must  have  been  largely  accom- 
plished by  such  means.  There  is  probably  little  question  of 
the  correctness  of  the  Hebrew  tradition  in  attributing  the 
oppression  of  some  tribe  of  their  ancestors  to  the  builder  of 

i  III,  526-7.         *  III,  492-504.        3  Erman,  Life  in  Ancient  Egypt,  504. 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  RAMSES  II  447 


Pithom  (Fig.  162)  and  Ramses;  that  a  tribe  of  their  fore- 
fathers should  have  fled  the  country  to  escape  such  labour 
is  quite  in  accord  with  what  we  know  of  the  time.  Inter- 
course with  Palestine  and  Syria  was  now  more  intimate 
than  ever.  A  letter  of  a  frontier  official,  dated  in  the  reign 
of  Ramses  II 's  successor,  tells  of  passing  a  body  of  Edomite 
Beduin  through  a  fortress  in  the  Wadi  Tumilat,  that  they 
might  pasture  their  herds  by  the  pools  cf  Pithom  as  the 
Hebrews  had  done  in  the  days  of  Joseph.1  In  the  rough 
memoranda  of  a  commandant's  scribe,  probably  of  the  fron- 
tier fortress  of  Tharu,  in  the  Isthmus  of  Suez,  we  find  also 
noted  the  people  whom  he  had  allowed  to  pass :  messengers 
with  letters  for  the  officers  of  the  Palestinian  garrisons,  for 
the  king  of  Tyre,  and  for  officers  with  the  king  (Merneptah) 
then  campaigning  in  Syria,  besides  officers  bearing  reports, 
or  hurrying  out  to  Syria  to  join  the  Pharaoh.2  Although 
there  was  never  a  continuous  fortification  of  any  length 
across  the  Isthmus  of  Suez,  there  was  a  line  of  stronghold?, 
of  which  Tharu  was  one  and  probably  Ramses  another, 
stretching  well  across  the  zone  along  which  Egypt  might 
be  entered  from  Asia.  This  zone  did  not  extend  to  the 
southern  half  of  the  isthmus,  but  was  confined  to  the  ter- 
ritory between  Lake  Timsah  and  the  Mediterranean,  whence 
the  line  of  fortresses  extended  southward,  passed  the  lake 
and  bent  westward  into  the  Wadi  Tumilat.  Hence  Hebrew 
tradition  depicts  the  escape  of  the  Israelites  across  the 
southern  half  of  the  isthmus  south  of  the  line  of  defences, 
which  might  have  stopped  them.  The  tide  of  commerce  that 
ebbed  and  flowed  through  the  Isthmus  of  Suez  was  even 
fuller  than  under  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty,  while  on  the  Medi- 
terranean the  Egyptian  galleys  must  have  whitened  the  sea, 
On  the  Pharaoh's  table  were  rarities  and  delicacies  from 
Cyprus,  the  land  of  the  Hittites  and  of  the  Amorites,  Baby- 
lonia and  Naharin.  Elaborately  wrought  chariots,  weapons, 
whips  and  gold-mounted  staves  from  the  Palestinian  and 
Syrian  towns  filled  his  magazine,  while  his  stalls  boasted 

»  III,  636-38.  2  in,  630-635. 


*48 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


fine  horses  of  Babylon  and  cattle  of  the  Hittite  country.1 
The  appurtenances  of  a  rich  man's  estate  included  a  galley 
plying  between  Egypt  and  the  Syrian  coast  to  bring  to 
the  pampered  Egyptian  the  luxuries  of  Asia;2  and  even 
Seti  I's  mortuary  temple  at  Abydos  possessed  its  own  sea- 
going vessels,  given  by  Kamses,  to  convey  the  temple  offer- 
ings from  the  east.3  The  houses  of  the  rich  were  filled 
with  the  most  exquisite  products  of  the  Asiatic  craftsman 
and  artist;  and  these  works  strongly  influenced  the  art 
of  the  time  in  Egypt.  The  country  swarmed  with  Semitic 
and  other  Asiatic  slaves,  while  Phoenician  and  other  alien 
merchants  were  so  numerous  that  there  was  a  foreign  quar- 


Fig.  163.     Heavy-abmed  Shebden  of  Ramses  II's  Mercenaby  Bodyguabd. 

ter  in  Memphis,  with  its  temples  of  Baal  and  Astarte;  and 
these  and  other  Semitic  gods  found  a  place  in  the  Egyptian 
pantheon.  The  dialects  of  Palestine  and  vicinity,  of  which 
Hebrew  was  one,  lent  many  a  Semitic  word  to  the  current 
language  of  the  day,  as  well  as  select  terms  with  which  the 

iPap.  Anast.,  IV,  15,  2-17  =  111,  8.     2  Ibid.,  IV.,  3,  10-11.      » III,  274. 


< 

~  b 

<  in 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  RAMSES  II 


449 


learned  scribes  were  fond  of  garnishing  their  writings.  We 
find  such  words  commonly  in  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty 
papyri  four  or  five  centuries  before  they  appear  in  the 
Hebrew  writings  of  the  Old  Testament.  The  royal  family 
was  not  exempt  from  such  influence;  Ramses'  favourite 
daughter  was  called  "Bint- Anath,"  a  Semitic  name,  which 
means  "Daughter  of  Anath"  (a  Syrian  goddess),  and  one 
of  the  royal  steeds  was  named  " Anath-herte, "  "Anath  is 
Satisfied." 

The  effect  of  the  vast  influx  of  Asiatic  life  already  appar- 
ent under  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  was  now  profound,  and 
many  a  foreigner  of  Semitic  blood  found  favour  and  ulti- 
mately high  station  at  the  court  or  in  the  government.  A 
Syrian  named  Ben-'Ozen  was  chief  herald  or  marshal  of 
Merneptah's  court,1  but  he  was  never  regent  as  sometimes 
stated.  The  commercial  opportunities  of  the  time  brought 
wealth  and  power  to  such  foreigners  in  Egypt ;  a  Syrian  sea- 
captain  named  Ben- Anath  was  able  to  secure  a  son  of  Ramses 
II  as  a  husband  for  his  daughter.2  In  the  army  great  careers 
were  open  to  such  foreigners,  although  the  rank  and  file 
of  the  Pharaoh's  forces  were  replenished  from  western 
and  southern  peoples  rather  than  from  Asia.  In  a  body  of 
five  thousand  troops  sent  by  Ramses  to  the  Wadi  Ham- 
mamat  for  service  in  the  quarries  there,  not  a  single  native 
Egyptian  was  to  be  found;  over  four  thousand  of  them 
were  Sherden  and  Libyans  and  the  remainder  were  negroes, 
such  as  we  have  already  seen  in  the  Egyptian  ranks  as 
early  as  the  Sixth  Dynasty.3  The  dangerous  tendencies 
inherent  in  such  a  system  had  already  shown  themselves 
and  were  soon  felt  by  the  royal  house,  although  powerless 
to  make  head  against  them.  The  warlike  spirit  which  had 
made  Egypt  the  first  world  power  had  endured  but  a  few 
generations,  and  a  naturally  peaceful  people  were  returning 
to  their  accustomed  peaceful  life ;  while  at  the  very  moment 

i  Mar.  Ab.  II,  50;  Cat.  gen.  d'Ab.,  No.  1136,  p.  422;  RIH,  32;  BT,  VI,  437. 
"Ostracon,  Louvre,  Inv.  2262,  Dever.  Cat.,  p.  202;  Bee.  16,  64, 
*  Battle  of  Kadesh,  9. 

29 


450 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


when  this  reversion  to  their  old  manner  of  living  was  taking 
place,  the  eastern  Mediterranean  and  the  Libyan  tribes 
offered  the  Pharaoh  an  excellent  class  of  mercenary  sol- 
diery which  under  such  circumstances  he  could  not  fail  to 
utilize. 

While  the  wars  in  Asia  had  not  recovered  the  empire  of 
Thutmose  III,  all  Palestine  and  possibly  some  of  northern 
Syria  continued  to  pay  tribute  to  the  Pharaoh,  while  on  the 
south  the  boundary  of  the  Empire  was  as  before  at  Napata, 
below  the  fourth  cataract.  There  were  stately  pageants 
when  the  magnificent  Pharaoh,  now  in  the  prime  of  life, 
received  the  magnates  of  his  empire,  from  the  crown-prince 
down  through  all  his  exalted  dignitaries  to  the  mayors  of 
the  outlying  towns,  a  brilliant  procession,  bringing  him  the 
tribute  and  impost  of  his  realm  from  the  southern  limits 
of  Nubia  to  the  Hittite  frontier  in  Syria.1  The  wealth  thus 
gained  still  served  high  purposes.  Art  still  flourished. 
Nothing  better  was  ever  produced  by  the  Egyptian  sculptor 
than  the  superb  statue  of  the  youthful  Ramses  (Fig.  168), 
which  forms  the  chef  d'cevre  of  the  Turin  Museum;  and 
even  the  colossal  statues  like  those  of  Abu  Simbel  (Fig.  167) 
are  fine  portraits.  Granting  that  art  was  on  the  decline, 
there  were  still  masters  of  relief  who  could  put  into  stone 
the  exquisite,  even  if  cold,  features  of  Bint-Anath,  the 
Pharaoh's  favourite  daughter.  How  ever  much  the  refine- 
ment of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  may  be  wanting  in 
the  great  hall  at  Karnak  (Figs.  164-5),  it  is  nevertheless 
the  most  impressive  building  in  Egypt,  and  at  the  last,  as 
even  Ruskin  admits,  size  does  tell.  He  who  stands  for  the 
first  time  in  the  shadow  of  its  overwhelming  colonnades,  that 
forest  of  mighty  shafts,  the  largest  ever  erected  by  human 
hands,— crowned  by  the  swelling  capitals  of  the  nave,  on 
each  one  of  which  a  hundred  men  may  stand  together,— he 
who  observes  the  vast  sweep  of  its  aisles— roofed  with  hun- 
dred-ton architraves— and  knows  that  its  walls  would  con- 
tain the  entire  cathedral  of  Notre  Dame  and  leave  plenty 

i  III,  481-4, 


Fig.  167.— THE  CLIFF  TEMPLE  OF  ABU  SIMBEL. 
Looking  southward  across  the  front.    See  p.  451. 


Fig.  168.— BLACK  GRANITE  STATUE  OF  RAMSES  II. 
See  p.  450.    (Turin  Museum.) 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  RAMSES  II 


45  i 


of  room  to  spare,— he  who  notes  the  colossal  portal  over 
which  once  lay  a  lintel  block  over  forty  feet  long  and 
weighing  some  hundred  and  fifty  tons,  will  be  filled  with 
respect  for  the  age  that  produced  this  the  largest  columned 
hall  ever  raised  by  man.  And  if  the  discerning  eye  is  rather 
impressed  by  its  size  than  by  the  beauty  of  its  lines,  it  should 
not  be  forgotten  that  the  same  architects  produced  Ramses' 
mortuary  temple,  the  Ramesseum  (Fig.  166),  a  building 
not  inferior  in  refined  beauty  to  the  best  works  of  the  Eigh- 
teenth Dynasty.  In  Nubia  also,  where  the  scanty  margin 
between  the  Nile  and  the  cliffs  was  either  insufficient  or 
could  not  be  spared  for  temples  of  masonry,  the  rock- 
hewn  sanctuaries  of  Ramses  form  distinct  contributions  to 
architecture.  No  visitor  to  the  temple  of  Abu  Simbel  (Fig. 
167)  will  ever  forget  the  solemn  grandeur  of  this  lonely 
sanctuary  looking  out  upon  the  river  from  the  sombre  cliffs. 
But  among  the  host  of  buildings  which  Ramses  exacted  from 
his  architects,  there  were  unavoidably  many  which  were 
devoid  of  all  life  and  freshness,  or  like  his  addition  to  the 
Luxor  temple,  heavy,  vulgar  and  of  very  slovenly  workman- 
ship. All  such  buildings  were  emblazoned  with  gayly  col- 
oured reliefs  depicting  the  valiant  deeds  of  the  Pharaoh  in 
his  various  wars,  especially,  as  we  have  already  noticed, 
his  desperate  defence  at  the  battle  of  Kadesh  (Fig.  169). 
This  last  was  the  most  pretentious  composition  ever 
attempted  by  the  Egyptian  draughtsman.  The  winding 
river,  the  moated  city,  the  flying  foe,  the  prudent  king  of 
the  Hittites  surrounded  by  masses  of  his  foot,  discreetly 
withholding  his  own  person  from  the  combat,  in  striking 
contrast  with  the  furious  onset  of  the  Pharaoh,— all  this  is 
wrought  out  with  skill,  although  obscured  by  unconscious- 
ness of  the  proper  relations  of  time  and  place,  always  char- 
acteristic of  Egyptian  as  well  as. all  other  early  oriental  com- 
positions. Although  the  reliefs  of  the  time  thus  show 
marked  progress  in  the  art  of  composition,  the  innumerable 
figures  included  in  such  a  work  individually  receive  too 
little  attention  and  are  often  badly  drawn.    But  no  sucji 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  RAMSES  II 


453 


ambitious  compositions  are  elsewhere  found  in  the  oriental 
world  for  six  hundred  years  or  more. 

This  last  incident  was  not  only  influential  in  graphic  art ; 
it  also  wrought  powerfully  upon  the  imagination  of  the 
court  poets,  one  of  whom  produced  a  prose  poem  on  the 
battle,  which  displays  a  good  deal  of  literary  skill,  and  is 
the  nearest  approach  to  the  epic  to  be  found  in  Egyptian 
literature.  We  are  told  how  the  foe  covered  the  hills  like 
grass-hoppers,  the  incidents  that  led  up  to  the  catastrophe 
are  narrated  with  precision  and  clearness,  and  then  as  the 
Pharaoh  finds  himself  alone  in  the  midst  of  the  foe  the  poet 
pictures  him  calling  upon  his  father  Amon  for  aid  while 
the  god  in  distant  Thebes,  hearing  the  cry  of  his  son, 
answers  and  nerves  his  arm  for  the  ordeal  in  a  response 
which  has  all  the  fine  and  heroic  spirit  of  the  epic  poem. 
The  author's  perception  of  dramatic  contrasts  is  remarkable. 
He  depicts  the  dismay  of  the  royal  charioteer  that  he  may 
contrast  it  with  Ramses'  undaunted  spirit  and  may  put 
into  the  Pharaoh's  mouth  a  fiery  speech  of  encouragement. 
When  it  is  all  over  and  the  crisis  passed  there  is,  among 
other  incidents,  a  pleasing  epic  touch  in  Ramses'  vow  that 
the  brave  chariot-horses  which  bore  him  safely  through 
the  conflict  shall  always  be  fed  by  his  own  hand.  A  copy 
of  this  composition  on  papyrus  was  made  by  a  scribe  named 
Pentewere  (Pentaur),  who  was  misunderstood  by  early  stu- 
dents of  the  document  to  be  the  author  of  the  poem.  The 
real  author  is  unknown,  although  "Pentaur"  still  commonly 
enjoys  the  distinction.  In  manner  this  heroic  poem  strikes 
a  new  note ;  but  it  came  at  a  period  too  late  in  the  history 
of  the  nation  to  be  the  impulse  toward  a  really  great  epic. 
The  martial  age  and  the  creative  spirit  were  passed  in 
Egypt.  In  the  tale,  however,  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty  really 
showed  great  fertility,  combined  with  a  spontaneous  natur- 
alism, which  quite  swept  away  all  trace  of  the  artificialities 
of  the  Middle  Kingdom.  Already  in  the  Middle  Kingdom 
there  had  grown  up  collections  of  artless  folk-tales  woven 
often  about  a  historical  motive,  and  such  tales,  clothed  in 


454 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


the  simple  language  of  the  people,  had  early  in  the  Eigh- 
teenth Dynasty  gained  sufficient  literary  respectability  to 
be  put  into  writing.  While  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  pos- 
sessed such  tales  as  these,  yet  by  far  the  larger  part  of  our 
surviving  manuscripts  of  this  class  date  from  the  Nine- 
teenth Dynasty  and  later.  It  is  now  that  we  find  the  story 
of  the  conflict  between  the  Hyksos  king  Apophis  and  Se- 
kenere  at  Thebes  a  tale  of  which  the  lost  conclusion  doubt- 
less contained  a  popular  version  of  the  expulsion  of  the 
Hyksos.  The  reader  will  recall  its  contribution  to  our 
scanty  knowledge  of  the  Hyksos.1  The  people  now  loved 
to  dwell  upon  the  exploits  of  Thutmose  Ill's  commanders, 
telling  of  Thutiy  and  his  capture  of  Joppa  by  introducing 
his  soldiers  into  the  city  in  panniers  loaded  on  donkeys,  a 
tale  which  was  perhaps  the  prototype  of  Ali  Baba  and  the 
Forty  Thieves.  But  the  artless  charm  of  the  story  of  the 
doomed  prince  quite  surpasses  such  historical  tales.  An 
only  son,  he  is  doomed  by  the  Hathors  at  his  birth  to  die 
by  a  crocodile,  a  serpent  or  a  dog.  Journeying  to  Syria,  he 
succeeds  in  climbing  a  tower  in  which  the  king  of  Naharin 
had  confined  his  daughter,  that  he  among  the  young  nobles 
of  Syria  whose  strength  of  arm  and  steady  nerve  should 
enable  him  to  swing  himself  aloft  to  the  young  girl's  window 
might  lead  her  away  as  his  wife.  But,  as  the  prince  had 
not  divulged  his  real  identity,  having  given  himself  out 
to  be  the  son  of  an  Egyptian  officer,  the  king  of  Naharin 
refused  to  give  him  his  daughter  and  afterward  would  have 
killed  him.  At  this  juncture  the  young  girl  saved  her 
lover  by  avowing  her  firm  intention  of  slaying  herself  if 
they  slew  him.  The  king  then  relented  and  the  prince 
received  his  bride.  Having  escaped  the  crocodile  and  the 
serpent  it  is  probable  that  he  then  fell  a  victim  to  his  faith- 
ful dog  which  had  followed  him  from  Egypt,  but  the  end 
of  the  story  is  wanting.  It  furnishes  the  earliest  known 
example  of  that  almost  universal  motive  in  which  a  youth 
must  pass  through  some  ordeal  or  competition  in  order  to 

n  See  above,  pp.  215-16,  223-24. 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  RAMSES  II 


455 


win  a  wife ;  a  motive  which  later  found  place  in  more  pre- 
tentious compositions,  even  Greek  drama,  as  in  the  tale 
of  CEdipus  and  the  Sphinx,  immortalized  in  Sophocles ' 
tragedy.  A  pastoral  tale  of  idyllic  simplicity  represents 
two  brothers  as  living  together,  the  elder  being  married  and 
a  householder,  while  the  younger  dwells  with  him  much 
after  the  manner  of  a  son.  There  now  befell  the  younger 
brother  an  adventure  later  appropriated  for  the  Hebrew 
hero,  Joseph.  The  wife  of  his  elder  brother  tempted  him 
and  he,  proving  inflexible,  the  woman,  to  revenge  herself, 
maligned  him  to  her  husband.  The  youth,  warned  by  the 
cattle  of  his  herd  as  he  drove  them  to  the  stable,  fled  for  his 
life,  and  the  tale  here  merges  into  a  series  of  half  mythical 
incidents  not  so  pleasing  as  the  introductory  chapter.  The 
number  of  such  tales  must  have  been  legion,  and  in  Greek 
times  they  furnished  all  that  many  Greek  writers,  or  even 
the  priest  Manetho  knew  of  early  Egyptian  kings. 

While  much  of  such  literature  is  poetic  in  content  and 
spirit,  it  lacks  poetic  form.  Such  form,  however,  was  not 
wanting,  and  among  the  songs  of  this  period  are  some 
poems  which  might  well  find  a  place  among  a  more  preten- 
tious literature. 

There  were  love-songs  also,  which  in  a  land  where  imagi- 
nation was  not  strong  possess  qualities  of  genuine  feeling 
which  do  not  fail  to  appeal  to  us  of  the  modern  world.  Re- 
ligious poems,  songs  and  hymns  are  now  very  numerous, 
and  some  of  them  display  distinct  literary  character.  We 
shall  revert  to  them  again  in  discussing  the  religion  of 
this  age.  Numerous  letters  from  scribes  and  officials  of  the 
time,  exercises  and  practice  letters  composed  by  pupils  of 
the  scribal  schools,  bills,  temple  records  and  accounts,— all 
these  serve  to  fill  in  the  detail  in  a  picture  of  unusual  fullness 
and  interest. 

By  far  the  larger  portion  of  the  surviving  literature  of  the 
time  is  religious  and  in  so  far  as  it  is  the  outgrowth  of  the 
state  religion,  the  impression  which  it  conveys  is  far  from 
gratifying.    Since  the  overthrow  of  Ikhnaton  and  the  return 


456 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


to  the  conventions  of  the  past,  the  state  religion  had  lost 
all  vitality,  and  in  the  hands  of  the  orthodox  priests  no 
longer  possessed  the  creative  faculty.  Yet  the  religion  of 
the  time  was  making  a  kind  of  progress,  or  at  least  it  was 
moving  in  a  certain  direction  and  that  very  rapidly.  The 
state,  always  closely  connected  with  religion,  was  gradually 
being  more  and  more  regarded  as  chiefly  a  religious  insti- 
tution, designed  to  exalt  and  honour  the  gods  through  its 
head  the  Pharaoh.  Among  other  indications  of  this  ten- 
dency the  names  of  the  temples  furnish  a  significant  hint. 
Sanctuaries  which  formerly  bore  names  like  "Splendour 
of  Splendours, ' ' ' i  Splendid  in  Monuments, ' '  "  Gift  of  Life, 9 9 
and  the  like,  were  now  designated  "Dwelling  of  Seti  in  the 
House  of  Amon,"  or  "Dwelling  of  Ramses  in  the  House  of 
Ptah."  This  tendency,  already  observable  in  the  Middle 
Kingdom,  was  now  universal,  and  every  temple  was  thus 
designated  as  the  sanctuary  of  the  ruling  Pharaoh.  That 
which  had  long  been  the  sacerdotal  theory  and  ideal  of  the 
state  was  now  beginning  to  be  practically  realized:  the 
Empire  was  to  become  the  domain  of  the  gods  and  the 
Pharaoh  was  to  give  himself  up  to  the  duties  of  a  universal 
high-priesthood.  The  temple  endowments,  not  being  sub- 
ject to  taxes,  now  played  an  important  economic  role,  and 
we  have  seen  Seti  I  and  Ramses  in  search  of  new  sources 
of  revenue  as  the  demands  of  the  priesthoods  increased. 
The  state  was  being  gradually  distorted  to  fulfill  one  func- 
tion at  the  expense  of  all  the  rest,  and  its  wealth  and  eco- 
nomic resources  were  thus  being  slowly  engulfed,  until  its 
industrial  processes  should  become  but  incidents  in  the  main- 
tenance of  the  gods.  As  the  wealth  and  power  of  Amon  in 
particular  increased,  his  High  Priest  at  Thebes  became  a 
more  and  more  important  political  factor.  We  recall  that 
he  was  head  of  the  sacerdotal  organization  embracing  all 
the  priesthoods  of  the  country;  he  thus  controlled  a  most 
influential  political  faction.  Hence  it  was  that  the  High 
Priest  of  Amon  under  Merneptah  (Ramses  II 's  son  and  suc- 
cessor) and  possibly  already  under  Ramses  himself  was  able 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  RAMSES  II 


457 


to  go  further  and  to  install  his  son  as  his  own  successor, 
thus  firmly  entrenching  his  family  at  the  head  of  the  most 
powerful  hierarchy  in  Egypt.1  While  such  a  family  like  a 
royal  dynasty  might  suffer  overthrow,  the  precedent  was 
a  dangerous  one,  and  it  ultimately  resulted  in  the  dethrone- 
ment of  the  Pharaohs  at  the  hands  of  the  priests.  That 
event,  however,  was  still  some  hundred  and  fifty  years 
distant,  and  meantime  the  High  Priest  employed  his  power 
and  influence  with  the  Pharaoh  in  enforcing  ever  fresh 
demands  upon  his  treasury,  until  before  the  close  of  the 
Nineteenth  Dynasty  Amon  had  even  secured  certain  gold 
country  in  Nubia  in  his  own  right.  It  was  administered  by 
the  viceroy  of  Kush,  who  therefore  assumed  the  additional 
title  ' '  Governor  of  the  Gold  Country  of  Amon. '  '2  Thus  there 
was  gradually  arising  the  sacerdotal  state  described  by 
Diodorus,  upon  which  the  Egyptian  priests  of  Greek  times 
looked  back  as  upon  a  golden  age.  As  the  inward  content 
of  the  prevailing  religion  had  already  long  been  determined 
by  the  dominant  priesthood,  so  now  its  outward  manifes- 
tations were  being  elaborated  by  them  into  a  vast  and  inflex- 
ible system,  and  the  popularity  of  every  Pharaoh  with  the 
priesthood  was  determined  by  the  degree  of  his  aquiescence 
in  its  demands. 

Though  the  state  religion  was  made  up  of  formalities, 
the  Pharaohs  were  not  without  their  own  ethical  standards, 
and  these  were  not  wholly  a  matter  of  appearances.  We 
have  witnessed  the  efforts  of  Harmhab  to  enforce  honesty 
in  the  dealings  of  the  government  with  its  subjects ;  we  have 
noted  Thutmose  Ill's  respect  for  truth.  In  the  dedicatory 
record  of  his  mortuary  temple  at  Thebes,  Ramses  III  pro- 
claims that  he  did  not  remove  any  old  tombs  to  obtain 
the  necessary  room  for  the  building;3  and  he  also  wishes  it 
known  that  he  gained  his  exalted  station  without  depriving 
any  one  else  of  his  throne. 4  The  barbarous  disregard  of  the 
sanctity  of  the  monuments  of  his  ancestors  by  Ramses  II 
however  we  have  already  noticed.  The  things  for  which  these 


i  III,  618. 


2  III,  040. 


»  IV,  4. 


*1V,  188. 


458 


A  HISTORY  OP  EGYPT 


kings  prayed  were  not  character  nor  the  blameless  life.  It 
is  material  things  which  they  desire.  Ramses  IV  prays  to 
Osiris,  ' '  And  thou  shalt  give  to  me  health,  life,  long  exist- 
ence and  a  prolonged  reign ;  endurance  to  my  every  member, 
sight  to  my  eyes,  hearing  to  my  ears,  pleasure  to  my  heart 
daily.  And  thou  shalt  give  to  me  to  eat  until  I  am  satisfied, 
and  thou  shalt  give  to  me  to  drink  until  I  am  drunk.  And 
thou  shalt  establish  my  issue  as  kings  forever  and  ever. 
And  thou  shalt  grant  me  contentment  every  day,  and  thou 
shalt  hear  my  voice  in  every  saying,  when  I  shall  tell  them 
to  thee,  and  thou  shalt  give  them  to  me  with  a  loving  heart. 
And  thou  shalt  give  to  me  high  and  plenteous  Niles  in  order 
to  supply  thy  divine  offerings  and  to  supply  the  divine  offer- 
ings of  all  the  gods  and  goddesses  of  South  and  North;  in 
order  to  preserve  alive  the  divine  bulls,  in  order  to  pre- 
serve alive  the  people  of  all  thy  lands,  their  cattle  and  their 
groves,  which  thy  hand  has  made.  For  thou  art  he  who 
has  made  them  all  and  thou  canst  not  forsake  them  to  carry 
out  other  designs  with  them ;  for  that  is  not  right. ' 91 

A  higher  type  of  personal  religion  was  developing  among 
the  better  class  of  the  people  than  the  sensual  materialism 
which  this  royal  prayer  displays.  A  fine  hymn  to  Amon, 
popular  at  this  time,  contains  many  of  the  old  ideas  preva- 
lent in  the  Aton-faith,  while  other  religious  poems  show 
that  a  personal  relation  is  gradually  growing  up  between 
the  worshipper  and  his  god,  so  that  he  sees  in  his  god  the 
friend  and  protector  of  men.  Thus  one  says:  "Amon-Re, 
I  love  thee  and  I  have  enfolded  thee  in  my  heart.  ...  I 
follow  not  the  care  in  my  heart;  what  Amon  says  pros- 
pers. ' ' 2  Or  again : ' 1  Amon  lend  thine  ear  to  him  who  stands 
alone  in  the  court  of  judgment,"3  and  when  the  court  is  won 
by  rich  bribes  Amon  becomes  the  vizier  of  the  poor  man.4 
Man  feels  also  the  sense  of  sin  and  cries  out :  "Punish  me  not 
for  my  many  sins."5  The  proverbial  wisdom  of  the  time 
shows  much  of  the  same  spirit.    Whereas  it  formerly  incul- 

i  IV,  470.  2  Birch,  Inscr.  in  the  Hier.  Char.,  pi.  XXVI. 

*  Tap.  Anast.,  II.,  8,  6.  «  Ibid.,  6,  5-6.  «  Erman,  Handbuch. 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  RAMSES  II 


459 


cated  only  correct  behaviour,  it  now  exhorts  to  hate  evil,  and 
to  abhor  what  the  god  abhors.  Prayer  should  be  the  silent 
aspiration  of  the  heart  and  to  Thoth  the  wise  man  prays, 
"0  thou  sweet  Well  for  the  thirsty  in  the  desert!  It  is 
closed  up  for  him  who  speaks,  but  it  is  open  for  him  who 
keeps  silence.  When  he  who  keeps  silence  comes,  lo  he  finds 
the  Well."1  The  poisonous  power  of  the  magical  literature 
now  everywhere  disseminated  by  the  priests  gradually 
stifled  these  aspirations  of  the  middle  class,  and  these  the 
last  symptoms  of  ethical  and  moral  life  in  the  religion  of 
Egypt  slowly  disappeared.  It  is  at  this  time  that  we  gain 
our  sole  glimpse  into  the  religious  beliefs  of  the  common 
people.  The  appropriation  of  the  temples  by  the  state  had 
long  ago  driven  them  from  their  ancient  shrines.  The  poor 
man  had  no  place  amid  such  magnificance,  nor  could  he 
offer  anything  worthy  the  attention  of  a  god  of  such  splen- 
dour. The  old  modest  cult  of  the  great  gods  having  long 
since  passed  away,  the  poor  man  could  only  resort  to  the 
host  of  minor  genii  or  spirits  of  mirth  and  music,  the  demi- 
gods, who,  frequenting  this  or  that  local  region,  had  interest 
and  inclination  to  assist  the  humble  in  their  daily  cares  and 
needs.  Any  object  whatsoever  might  become  the  poor  man's 
god.  A  man  writing  from  Thebes  commends  his  friend  to 
Amon,  Mut  and  Khonsu,  the  great  divinities  of  that  place, 
but  adds  also,  "to  the  great  gate  of  Beki,  to  the  eight  apes 
which  are  in  the  forecourt,"  and  to  two  trees.2  In  the 
Theban  necropolis  Amenhotep  I  and  the  queen  Nefretiri 
have  become  the  favourite  local  divinities,  and  a  man  who 
accidentally  thrust  his  hand  into  a  hole  where  lay  a  large 
serpent,  without  being  bitten,  immediately  erected  a  tablet 
to  tell  the  tale  and  express  his  gratitude  to  Amenhotep, 
whose  power  alone  had  saved  him.3  Another  had  in  some 
way  transgressed  against  a  goddess  who,  according  to  popu- 
lar belief,  resided  in  a  hill-top  of  the  same  necropolis,  and 
when  at  last  the  goddess  released  him  from  the  power  of 
the  disease  with  which  she  was  afflicting  him,  he  erected  a 

«  Pap.  Sallier,  I,  8,  2  ff.  »  Erman,  Handbuch.  s  Turin  Stela. 


460 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


similar  memorial  in  her  honour.  In  the  same  way  the  dead 
might  afflict  the  living,  and  an  officer  who  was  tormented 
by  his  deceased  wife  wrote  to  her  a  letter  of  remonstrance 
and  placed  it  in  the  hand  of  another  dead  person  that  it 
might  be  duly  delivered  to  his  wife  in  the  hereafter.  Be- 
sides the  local  gods,  or  demigods  and  the  old  kings,  the 
foreign  gods  of  Syria,  brought  in  by  the  hosts  of  Asiatic 
slaves,  appear  also  among  those  to  whom  the  folk  appeal; 
Baal,  Kedesh,  Astarte,  Reshep,  Anath  and  Sutekh  are  not 
uncommon  names  upon  the  votive  tablets  of  the  time,  and 
Sutekh,  a  form  of  Set  which  had  wandered  into  Syria  from 
Egypt  and  had  returned  with  the  Hyksos,  even  became  the 
favourite  and  patron  of  the  royal  city  of  Ramses  II.  Animal 
worship  now  also  begins  to  appear  both  among  the  people 
and  in  official  circles. 

The  young  Pharaoh  under  whom  these  momentous  transi- 
tions were  slowly  taking  place  was  too  plastic  in  dealing 
with  them  for  us  to  discover  the  manner  of  man  he  was. 
For  his  records  are  almost  all  of  sacerdotal  origin,  and  in 
them  all  the  priestly  adulation  of  the  time,  with  its  endless 
reiteration  of  conventional  flattery,  prevails  so  largely,  or  we 
may  say  often  so  exclusively  that  we  can  discern  little  indi- 
viduality through  the  mass  of  meaningless  verbiage.  His 
superb  statue  in  Turin  (Fig.  168)  is  proven  by  his  surviving 
body  to  be  a  faithful  portrait,  showing  us  at  least  the  out- 
ward man  as  he  was.  In  person  he  was  tall  and  handsome, 
with  features  of  dreamy  and  almost  effeminate  beauty,  in  no 
wise  suggestive  of  the  manly  traits  which  he  certainly  pos- 
sessed. For  the  incident  at  Kadesh  showed  him  unques- 
tionably a  man  of  fine  courage  with  ability  to  rise  to  a 
supreme  crisis;  while  the  indomitable  spirit  evident  there 
is  again  exhibited  in  the  tenacity  with  which  he  pushed  the 
war  against  the  great  Hittite  empire  and  carried  his  con- 
quests, even  if  not  lasting,  far  into  northern  Syria.  After 
his  nearly  fifteen  years  of  campaigning,  in  which  he  more 
than  redeemed  the  almost  fatal  blunder  at  Kadesh,  he  was 
quite  ready  to  enjoy  the  well  earned  peace.   He  was  inordi- 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  RAMSES  II 


461 


nately  vain  and  made  far  more  ostentatiou.;  display  of  his 
wars  on  his  monuments  than  was  ever  done  by  Thutmose 
III.  He  loved  ease  and  pleasure  and  gave  himself  up  with- 
out restraint  to  voluptuous  enjoyments.  He  had  an  enor- 
mous harem,  and  as  the  years  passed  his  children  multiplied 
rapidly.  He  left  over  a  hundred  sons  and  at  least  half 
as  many  daughters,  several  of  whom  he  himself  married. 
He  thus  left  a  family  so  numerous  that  they  became  a 
Ramessid  class  of  nobles  whom  we  still  find  over  four  hun- 
dred years  later  bearing  among  their  titles  the  name  Ram- 
ses, not  as  a  patronymic,  but  as  the  designation  of  a  class 
or  rank.  Unable,  perhaps,  to  find  suitable  wives  of  rank 
and  wealth  for  his  army  of  sons,  one  of  them,  as  we  have 
seen,  received  the  daughter  of  a  Syrian  ship-captain.  Ram- 
ses took  great  pride  in  his  enormous  family  and  often 
ordered  his  sculptors  to  depict  his  sons  and  daughters 
in  long  rows  upon  the  walls  of  his  temples.  The  sons  of 
his  youth  accompanied  him  in  his  wars,  and  according  to 
Diodorus  one  of  them  was  in  command  of  each  of  the 
divisions  of  his  army.1  His  favourite  among  them  was 
Khamwese,  whom  he  made  High  Priest  of  Ptah  at  Memphis. 
But  his  affection  included  them  all,  and  his  favourite  wives 
and  daughters  appear  with  noticeable  frequency  upon  his 
monuments. 

As  Ramses  reached  the  thirtieth  year  of  his  reign  he 
celebrated  his  first  jubilee,  placing  the  ceremonies  of  the 
celebration  in  charge  of  his  favourite  son,  Khamwese,  the 
great  magician  and  High  Priest  of  Ptah,  whose  memory 
still  lived  in  the  folk-tales  of  Egypt  a  thousand  years  later. 
Twenty  years  more  passed,  during  which  Ramses  celebrated 
a  jubilee  every  one  to  three  years,  instituting  no  less  than 
nine  of  these  feasts,  a  far  larger  number  than  we  are  able 
to  find  in  the  reigns  of  any  of  his  predecessors.2  The 
obelisks  erected  on  these  occasions  have  already  claimed 
our  notice.  With  his  name  perpetuated  in  vast  buildings 
distributed  at  all  points  along  the  Nile  from  the  marshes 

3  Diod.,  I,  47;  comp.  Battle  of  Kadesh,  p.  34.  *  III,  543-560, 


462 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


of  the  northern  Delta  to  the  fourth  cataract,  Ramses  lived 
on  in  magnificence  even  surpassing  that  of  Amenhotep  III. 
His  was  the  sunset  glory  of  the  venerable  line  which  he 
represented.  As  the  years  passed  the  sons  of  his  youth 
were  taken  from  him  and  Khamwese  was  no  longer  there 
to  conduct  the  celebration  of  the  old  king's  jubilees.  One 
by  one  they  passed  away  until  twelve  were  gone,  and 
the  thirteenth  was  the  eldest  and  heir  to  the  throne.  Yet 
still  the  old  king  lived  on.  He  had  lost  the  vitality  for 
aggressive  rule.  The  Libyans  and  the  maritime  peoples 
allied  with  them,  Lycians,  Sardinians  and  the  ^Egean  races . 
whom  he  had  once  swept  from  his  coasts  or  impressed 
into  the  service  of  his  army  now  entered  the  western  Delta 
with  impunity.  The  Libyans  pushed  forward,  gradually 
extending  their  settlements  almost  to  the  gates  of  Memphis 
and  crossed  the  southern  apex  of  the  Delta  under  the  very 
shadow  of  the  walls  of  Heliopolis  where  the  vizier  lived. 
Senile  decay  rendered  him  deaf  to  alarms  and  complaints 
which  would  have  brought  instant  retribution  upon  the 
invaders  in  the  days  of  his  vigourous  youth.  Amid  the 
splendours  of  his  magnificent  residence  in  the  eastern  Delta 
the  threatening  conditions  at  its  opposite  extremity  never 
roused  him  from  the  lethargy  into  which  he  had  fallen. 
Finally,  having  ruled  for  sixty  seven  years,  and  being  over 
ninety  years  of  age,  he  passed  away  (1225  B.  C.)  none  too 
soon  for  the  redemption  of  his  empire.  We  are  able  to 
look  into  the  withered  face  of  the  hoary  nonogenarian  (Fig. 
170),  evidently  little  changed  from  what  he  was  in  those 
last  days  of  splendour  in  the  city  of  Ramses,  and  the  resem- 
blance to  the  face  of  the  youth  in  the  noble  Turin  statue  is 
still  very  marked. 

I^bably  no  Pharaoh  ever  left  a  more  profound  impres- 
sion upon  his  age.  A  quarter  of  a  century  later  began  a 
line  of  ten  kings  bearing  his  name.  One  of  them  prayed 
that  he  might  be  granted  a  reign  of  sixty  seven  years  like 
that  of  his  great  ancestor,1  and  all  of  them  with  varying  suc- 

i  lV,  471. 


THE  EMPIRE   OF  RAMSES  II 


463 


cess  imitated  his  glory.  He  had  set  his  stamp  upon  them 
all  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years,  and  it  was  impossible  to 
be  a  Pharaoh  without  being  a  Ramses.  Had  they  possessed 
the  aggressive  vigour  of  the  great  Ramses'  prime  this  influ- 
ence might  have  been  far  less  unwholesome,  but  in  a  time 
when  Egypt  and  entirely  lost  its  expansive  force  the  influ- 
ence of  Ramses'  memory  served  only  to  foster  the  sacer- 
dotal tendencies  which  were  now  dominant  in  the  state. 
It  was  thus  the  Ramses  of  the  latter  half  of  his  reign,  whose 
influence  was  most  potent,  and  in  a  day  when  Egypt  should 
have  been  girding  her  loins  and  husbanding  her  resources 
for  a  struggle  involving  her  very  existence,  she  was  relin- 
quishing her  sword  to  mercenary  strangers  and  lavishing 
her  wealth  upon  temples  already  too  richly  endowed  for  the 
economic  safety  of  the  state. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 


THE  FINAL  DECLINE  OF  THE  EMPIKE:  MERNEPTAH 
AND  EAMSES  III 

Egypt  was  now  on  the  defensive.  This  was  the  result 
of  conditions  both  within  and  without.  As  we  have  seen, 
the  nation  had  lost  its  expansive  power  and  the  impulse 
which  resulted  from  the  expulsion  of  the  Hyksos  three 
hundred  and  fifty  years  before  was  no  longer  felt.  The 
exploits  of  Thutmose  Ill's  generals  were  still  narrated, 
and  garnished  with  legendary  wonders  they  still  circulated 
among  the  people.  But  the  spirit  which  had  stirred  the 
heroes  of  the  first  Asiatic  conquests  had  now  vanished. 
While  this  was  the  condition  within,  without  all  was  tur- 
bulence and  unrest.  The  restless  maritime  peoples  of  the 
northern  Mediterranean,  creeping  along  the  coasts,  sought 
plunder  or  places  for  permanent  settlement,  and  together 
with  the  Libyans  on  the  one  hand  and  the  peoples  of  remoter 
Asia  Minor  on  the  other,  they  broke  in  wave  on  wave  upon 
the  borders  of  the  Pharaoh's  empire.  Egypt  was  inevitably 
thrown  on  the  defensive,  her  day  of  conquest  and  aggres- 
sion was  passed  and  for  six  hundred  years  no  serious  effort 
to  extend  her  borders  was  made.  For  the  next  sixty  years 
after  the  death  of  Ramses  II  we  shall  be  able  to  watch  the 
struggle  of  the  Pharaohs  merely  to  preserve  the  empire, 
which  it  had  been  the  ambition  of  their  great  ancestors 
rather  to  extend.  At  this  crisis  in  the  affairs  of  the  nation, 
after  it  had  been  under  the  rule  of  an  aged  man  for  twenty 
years  and  much  needed  the  vigourous  hand  of  a  young  and 
active  monarch,  the  enfeebled  Ramses  was  succeeded  by 
his  thirteenth  son,  Merneptah,  now  far  advanced  in  years. 
Thus  one  old  man  succeeded  another  upon  the  throne.  The 
result  was  what  might  have  been  expected.    Nothing  was 

464 


Fig.  172.— PELESET  OR  PHILISTINE  PRISONERS  OF  RAMSES  III. 
Relief  on  the  second  pylon  at  Medinet  Habu. 


THE  DECLINE:  MERNEPTAH  AND  RAMSES  III  465 


immediately  done  to  check  the  bold  incursions  of  the  Liby- 
ans and  their  maritime  allies  on  the  west,  The  death  of 
Ramses  was  not  followed  by  any  disturbance  in  the  Asiatic 
dominions  in  so  far  as  we  can  see.  The  northern  border 
in  Syria  was  as  far  north  as  the  upper  Orontes  valley,  in- 
cluding at  least  part  of  the  Amorite  country  in  which  Mer- 
neptah  had  a  royal  city  bearing  his  name,  probably  inherited 
from  his  father  and  renamed.  With  the  Hittite  kingdom 
he  enjoyed  undisturbed  peace,  doubtless  under  the  terms 
of  the  old  treaty,  negotiated  by  his  father  forty  six  years 
before.  Indeed  Merneptah  sent  shiploads  of  grain  to  the 
Hittites  to  relieve  them  in  time  of  famine ;  but  he  must  have 
been  fully  paid  for  the  shipment,  although  one  might  infer 
from  his  reference  to  it  that  it  was  a  work  of  philanthropy.1 
By  the  end  of  his  second  year,  however,  he  had  reason  to 
rue  the  good  will  shown  his  father's  ancient  enemy.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  among  the  allies  of  the  Hittites  at  the 
battle  of  Kadesh  there  were  already  maritime  peoples  like 
the  Lycians  and  Dardanians.  In  some  way  Merneptah 
must  have  discovered  that  the  Hittites  were  now  involved 
in  the  incursions  of  these  peoples  in  the  western  Delta  in 
alliance  with  the  Libyans.  Perhaps  for  the  sake  of  further 
conquest  in  Syria,  they  had  given  the  Libyans  and  their 
allies  at  least  moral  support  and  actively  stirred  rebellion 
among  the  Pharaoh's  Asiatic  cities.  However  this  may  be, 
the  year  three  (about  1223  B.  C.)  found  widespread  revolt 
against  him  in  Asia;  Askalon  at  the  very  gates  of  Egypt, 
the  powerful  city  of  Gezer  at  the  lower  end  of  the  valley  of 
Ajalon,  leading  up  from  the  sea-plain  to  Jerusalem;  Ye- 
noam,  one  of  the  Lebanon  Tripolis  given  by  Thutmose  III 
to  Amon  two  hundred  and  sixty  years  before,  the  tribes 
of  Israel  and  all  western  Syria-Palestine  as  far  as  it  was 
controlled  by  the  Pharaoh ;  all  these  rose  against  their 
Egyptian  overlord.  We  have  nothing  but  a  song  of  tri- 
umph to  tell  us  of  the  ensuing  war;  but  it  is  evident  that 
Merneptah  appeared  in  Asia  in  his  third  year,2  and  in 

»  III,  580,  1.  24.  *  III,  620-35. 

30 


466 


A  HISTORY  OP  EGYPT 


spite  of  his  advanced  years  carried  the  campaign  to  a  suc- 
cessful issue.  It  is  probable,  indeed,  that  even  the  Hittites 
did  not  escape  his  wrath,  though  we  cannot  suppose  that 
the  aged  Merneptah  could  have  done  more  than  plunder  a 
border  town  or  two.  The  revolting  cities  were  severely 
punished  and  all  Palestine  was  again  humiliated  and 
brought  completely  under  the  yoke.  Among  the  revolters 
who  suffered  were  some  of  the  tribes  of  Israel  who  had 
now  secured  a  footing  in  Palestine,  as  we  saw  at  the  close 
of  the  Eighteenth  and  opening  of  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty. 
They  were  sufficiently  amalgamated  to  be  referred  to  as 
' ' Israel,' '  and  they  here  make  their  first  appearance  in 
history  as  a  people.  Gezer  must  have  cost  Merneptah  some 
trouble  and  perhaps  withstood  a  siege ;  in  any  case  he  there- 
after styled  himself  in  his  titulary  " Binder  of  Gezer,"1 
as  if  its  subjugation  were  a  notable  achievement.  Such  a 
siege  would  explain  why  Merneptah  was  unable  to  move 
against  the  invaders  of  the  western  Delta  until  his  fifth 
year,  as  the  investment  of  such  a  stronghold  as  Gezer 
might  have  occupied  him  another  year.  When  he  returned 
the  Egyptian  domains  in  Asia  had  been  saved,  but  it  is 
not  probable  that  he  had  advanced  the  inherited  frontier. 

Meantime  the  situation  in  the  west  was  serious  in  the 
extreme;  the  hordes  of  Tehenu-Libyans  were  pushing  fur- 
ther into  the  Delta  from  their  settlements  along  the  northern 
coast  of  Africa  west  of  Egypt.  It  is  possible  that  some  of 
their  advance  settlers  had  even  reached  the  canal  of  Heli- 
opolis.*2  Little  is  known  of  the  Libyans  at  this  time.  Im- 
mediately upon  the  Egyptian  border  seems  to  have  been 
the  territory  of  the  Tehenu;  further  west  came  the  tribes 
known  to  the  Egyptians  as  Lebu  or  Rebu,  the  Libyans  of 
the  Greeks,  by  which  name  also  "the  Egyptians  designated 
these  western  peoples  as  a  whole.  On  the  extreme  west,  and 
extending  far  into  then  unknown  regions,  lived  the  Mesh- 
wesh,  or  Maxyes,  of  Herodotus.  They  were  all  doubtless 
the  ancestors  of  the  Berber  tribes  of  North  Africa.  They 


i  III,  606. 


«  III,  576. 


THE  DECLINE:  MERXEPTAH  AND  RAMSES  III  467 


were  far  from  being  totally  uncivilized  barbarians,  but 
were  skilled  in  war,  well  armed  and  capable  of  serious  en- 
terprises against  the  Pharaoh.  Just  at  this  time  they  were 
rapidly  consolidating,  and  under  good  leadership  gave 
promise  of  becoming  an  aggressive  and  formidable  state, 
with  its  frontier  not  ten  days'  march  from  the  Pharaoh's 
residence  in  the  eastern  Delta.  The  whole  western  Delta 
was  strongly  tinctured  with  Libyan  blood  and  Libyan  fam- 
ilies were  now  constantly  crossing  the  western  border  of 
the  Delta  as  far  as  the  "great  river"  as  the  western  or 
Canopic  mouth  of  the  Nile  was  called.  Others  had  pene- 
trated to  the  two  northern  oases  which  lie  southwest  of  the 
Fayum.  "They  spend  their  time  going  about  the  land 
ngnting  to  fill  their  bodies  daily,"  says  Merneptah's  record, 
"they  come  to  the  land  of  Egypt  to  seek  the  necessities  of 
their  mouths."1  Emboldened  by  their  long  immunity,  the 
Libyans  assumed  an  organized  offensive,  and  what  had 
been  but  a  scattered  immigration  now  became  a  compact 
invasion.  Meryey,  king  of  the  Libyans,  forced  the  Tehenu 
to  join  him  and,  supported  by  roving  bands  of  maritime 
adventurers  from  the  coast,  he  invaded  Egypt.  He  brought 
his  wife  and  his  children  with  him,2  as  did  also  his  allies3 
and  the  movement  was  clearly  an  immigration  as  well  as 
an  invasion.  The  allies  were  the  now  familiar  Sherden 
or  Sardinians;  the  Shekelesh,  possibly  the  Sikeli  natives 
of  early  Sicily;  Ekwesh,  perhaps  Achaeans,  the  Lycians, 
who  had  preyed  on  Egypt  since  the  days  of  Amenhotep  III ; 
and  the  Teresh,  doubtless  the  Tyrsenians  or  Etruscans.4 
It  is  with  these  wandering  marauders  that  the  peoples  of 
Europe  emerge  for  the  first  time  upon  the  arena  of  history, 
although  we  have  seen  them  in  their  material  documents 
since  the  Middle  Kingdom.  This  crossing  to  Africa  by  the 
northern  Mediterranean  peoples  is  but  one  of  the  many  such 
ventures  which  in  prehistoric  ages  brought  over  the  white 
race  whom  we  know  as  Libyans.  Judging  from  the  num- 
bers who  were  afterward  slain  or  captured,  the  Libyan  king 

HII,  580.  2  III,  579.  s  III,  595.  Ill,  579. 


468 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


must  have  commanded  at  least  some  twenty  thousand  men 
or  more. 

Merneptah,  at  last  aroused  to  the  situation,  was  fortify- 
ing Heliopolis  and  Memphis,1  when  news  of  the  danger 
reached  him  late  in  March  of  his  fifth  year.  Instantly 
summoning  his  officials,  he  ordered  them  to  muster  the 
troops  and  have  the  army  ready  to  move  in  fourteen  days.2 
The  aged  king  had  a  reassuring  dream,  in  which  Ptah 
appeared  in  gigantic  stature  beside  him  and  extended  him 
a  sword,  telling  him  to  banish  all  fear.3  By  the  middle 
of  April  the  Egyptian  force  was  in  the  western  Delta,  and 
on  the  evening  of  the  same  day  came  within  striking  dis- 
tance of  the  enemy.4  Near  a  place  called  Perire,  the  loca- 
tion of  which,  although  not  exactly  certain,  is  to  be  placed 
somewhere  on  the  main  road  leading  westward  out  of  the 
Delta  into  the  Libyan  country  a  few  miles  in  from  the  fron- 
tier fort  and  station  guarding  the  road  at  the  point  where 
it  entered  the  Delta.  In  the  vicinity  of  Perire,5  among  the 
opulent  vineyards  of  the  region  there  was  a  chateau  of 
the  Pharaoh  and  thence  eastward  extended  the  broad  pros- 
pect of  nodding  grainfields  where  the  rich  Delta  harvest  was 
now  fast  ripening  for  the  sickle.  Upon  such  a  prospect  of 
smiling  plenty  the  barbarian  host  looked  down  as  they 
pushed  past  the  western  frontier  forts.  By  the  Pharaoh's 
Perire  chateau,  on  the  morning  of  April  fifteenth,  battle 
was  joined.  The  contest  lasted  six  hours  when  the  Egyptian 
archers  drove  the  allies  from  the  field  with  immense  loss. 
As  is  customary  in  modern  times  at  this  point  in  a  battle, 
Merneptah  now  immediately  threw  in  his  horse  in  pursuit 
of  the  flying  enemy,  who  were  harried  and  decimated  till 
they  reached  the  ' 1 Mount  of  the  Horns  of  the  Earth,' '  as 
the  Egyptians  called  the  edge  of  the  plateau  on  the  west  of 
the  Delta  into  which  they  escaped.6  King  Meryey  had  fled 
from  the  field  as  soon  as  he  saw  the  action  going  against 
him.   He  made  good  his  escape,  but  all  his  household  fur- 

i  III,  576.  2  ITT,  581.  3  HT,  582. 

4  HI,  583.  5  III,  600.  8  HI,  5S4,  600. 


THE  DECLINE:  MERNEPTAII  AND  RAMSES  III  ^(59 


niture  and  his  family  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Egyptians.1 
The  energetic  pursuit  resulted  in  a  great  slaughter  and 
many  prisoners.  Xo  less  than  nine  thousand  of  the  in- 
vaders fell,  of  whom  at  least  one  third  were  among  the 
maritime  allies  of  the  Libyans ;  while  probably  as  many 
more  were  taken  prisoner.  Among  the  dead  were  six  sons 
of  the  Libyan  king.2  The  booty  was  enormous;  some  nine 
thousand  copper  swords  and  of  weapons  of  all  sorts  and 
similar  equipment  no  less  than  over  one  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  pieces.  Besides  these  there  were  the  fine  weapons 
and  vessels  in  precious  metal  taken  from  the  camp  of  the 
Libyan  king's  household  and  chiefs,  comprising  over  three 
thousand  pieces.3  When  the  camp  had  been  thoroughly 
looted  its  leathern  tents  were  fired  and  the  whole  went  up 
in  smoke  and  flame.4 

The  army  then  returned  in  triumph  to  the  royal  residence 
in  the  eastern  Delta  bearing  laden  upon  asses  the  hands  and 
other  trophies  cut  from  the  bodies  of  the  slain.5  The  booty 
and  the  trophies  were  brought  beneath  the  palace  balcony, 
where  the  king  inspected  them  and  showed  himself  to  the 
rejoicing  multitude.6  He  then  assembled  the  nobles  in  the 
great  hall  of  the  palace  where  he  harangued  them.  What 
was  more  important,  there  now  came  to  him  a  letter  from 
the  commandant  of  one  of  the  fortresses  on  the  frontier  of 
the  western  Delta,  stating  that  the  Libyan  king  had  escaped 
past  the  Egyptian  cordon  in  the  darkness  of  the  night;  and 
adding  information  to  the  effect  that  the  Libyans  had  repu- 
diated and  dethroned  their  discomfited  king  and  chosen 
another  in  his  place  who  was  hostile  to  him  and  would  fight 
him.7  It  was  evident  therefore  that  the  aggressive  party 
in  Libya  had  fallen  and  that  no  further  trouble  from  that 
quarter  need  be  apprehended  during  the  reign  of  Merneptah 
at  least. 

In  the  rejoicing  of  the  people  which  followed  this  great 
deliverance,  there  is  a  note  not  only  of  exuberant  triumph 

I  ITT,  584.  «  IIT,  588.  8  III,  5S9.  *  III,  5S9,  610. 

5  III,  587.  6  Ibid.  7  III,  586,  610. 


470 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


but  also  of  intense  relief.  The  constant  plundering  at  the 
hands  of  Libyan  hordes,  which  the  people  of  the  western 
Delta  had  endured  for  nearly  a  generation  was  now  ended. 
Not  only  was  a  great  national  danger  averted,  but  an  intol- 
erable situation  was  relieved.  Little  wonder  that  the  people 
sang:  "Great  joy  has  come  in  Egypt,  rejoicing  comes  forth 
from  the  towns  of  Tomeri  [Egypt].  They  talk  of  the  vic- 
tories which  Merneptah  has  achieved  among  the  Tehenu: 
' How  amiable  is  he,  the  victorious  ruler!  How  magnified 
is  the  king  among  the  gods !  How  fortunate  is  he,  the  com- 
manding lord !  Sit  happily  down  and  talk  or  walk  far  out 
upon  the  way  for  there  is  no  fear  in  the  heart  of  the  people. 
The  strongholds  are  left  to  themselves,  the  wells  are  opened 
again.  The  messengers  skirt  the  battlements  of  the  walls, 
shaded  from  the  sun,  until  their  watchmen  wake.  The  sol- 
diers lie  sleeping  and  the  border-scouts  are  in  the  field  [or 
not]  as  they  desire.  The  herds  of  the  field  are  left  as 
cattle  sent  forth  without  herdman,  crossing  at  will  the  full- 
ness of  the  stream.  There  is  no  uplifting  of  a  shout  in  the 
night:  "Stop!  Behold  one  comes,  one  comes  with  the  speech 
of  strangers ! ' '  One  comes  and  goes  with  singing,  and  there 
is  no  lamentation  of  mourning  people.  The  towns  are  settled 
again  anew ;  and  as  for  one  that  ploweth  his  harvest,  he  shall 
eat  of  it.  Re  has  turned  himself  to  Egypt ;  he  was  born  des- 
tined to  be  her  protector,  even  the  king  Merneptah. '  99 

The  kings  are  overthrown,  saying,  "Salam!" 

Not  one  holds  up  his  head  among  the  nine  nations  of  the  bow. 

Wasted  is  Tehenu, 

The  Hittite  Land  is  pacified, 

Plundered  is  the  Canaan,  with  every  evil, 

Carried  off  is  Askalon, 

Seized  upon  is  Gezer, 

Yenoam  is  made  as  a  thing  not  existing. 

Israel  is  desolated,  her  seed  is  not, 

Palestine  has  become  a  [defenseless]  widow  for  Egypt. 

All  lands  are  united,  they  are  pacified ; 

Every  one  that  is  turbulent  is  bound  by  king  Merneptah.1 

i  III,  616-617. 


THE  DECLINE:  MERNEPTAH  AND  RAMSES  III  471 


It  is  this  concluding  song,  reverting  also  to  Merneptah 's 
triumphs  in  Asia,  which  tells  us  nearly  all  that  we  know  of 
his  Asiatic  war.  It  is  a  kind  of  summary  of  all  his  victories, 
and  forms  a  fitting  conclusion  of  the  rejoicing  of  the  people. 

Thus  the  sturdy  old  Pharaoh,  although  bowed  down  with 
years,  had  repelled  from  his  empire  the  first  assault,  pre- 
monitory of  the  coming  storm.  He  reigned  at  least  five 
years  longer,  apparently  enjoying  profound  peace  in  the 
north.  He  strengthened  his  Asiatic  frontier  with  a  fortress 
bearing  his  name,1  and  in  the  south  he  quelled  a  rebellion 
in  Nubia.2  The  commonly  accepted  statement  that  toward 
the  end  of  his  reign  a  Syrian  at  court  gained  control  of 
Merneptah  and  became  regent  is  entirely  without  founda- 
tion and  due  to  misunderstanding  of  the  titles  of  Ben-'Ozen, 
the  Syrian  marshal  of  his  court,  to  whom  we  have  already 
referred.3  The  long  reign  of  Ramses  II,  with  its  prodi- 
gality in  buildings,  left  Merneptah  little  means  to  gratify 
his  own  desires  in  this  respect.  Moreover,  his  days  were 
numbered  and  there  was  not  time  to  hew  from  the  quarries 
and  transport  the  materials  for  such  a  temple  as  it  had  now 
become  customary  for  each  Pharaoh  to  erect  at  Thebes  for 
his  own  mortuary  service.  Under  these  circumstances,  Mer- 
neptah had  no  hesitation  in  resorting  to  the  most  brutal 
destruction  of  the  monuments  of  his  ancestors.  To  obtain 
materials  for  his  mortuary  temple  he  made  a  quarry  of  the 
noble  sanctuary  of  Amenhotep  III  on  the  western  plain, 
ruthlessly  tore  down  its  walls  and  split  up  its  superb  statues 
to  serve  as  blocks  in  his  own  building.  Among  other  things 
thus  appropriated  was  a  magnificent  black  granite  stela 
over  ten  feet  high  (Fig.  171)  containing  a  record  of  Amen- 
hotep Ill's  buildings.4  Merneptah  erected  it  in  his  new 
building  with  face  to  the  wall,  and  his  scribes  cut  upon  the 
back  a  hymn  of  victory 5  over  the  Libyans,  of  which  we  have 
quoted  the  conclusion  above.  It  has  become  notable  because 
it  contains  the  earliest  known  reference  to  Israel.6  Mer- 

»  Pap.  Anast,  VI.  pi.  4,  1.  13-pl.  5,  1.  5.  « III,  p.  259,  note  a. 

3  See  above,  p.  449.      <  II,  878  ff.      5  III,  602-617.    •  See  p.  470. 


472 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


neptah's  desecration  of  the  great  works  of  the  earlier  Phar- 
aohs did  not  even  spare  those  of  his  own  father  who,  it 
will  be  remembered,  had  set  him  a  notorious  example  in  this 
respect.  Ramses  had  the  audacity,  after  a  life  time  of  such 
vandalism,  to  record  in  his  Abydos  temple  a  long  appeal  to 
his  descendants  to  respect  his  foundations  and  his  monu- 
ments,1  but  not  even  his  own  son  showed  them  the  respect 
which  he  craved.  We  find  Merneptah's  name  constantly 
on  the  monuments  of  his  father. 

After  a  reign  of  at  least  ten  years  Merneptah  passed  away 
(1215  B.  C.)  and  was  buried  at  Thebes  in  the  valley  with 
his  ancestors.  His  body  has  recently  been  found  there, 
quite  discomfiting  the  adherents  of  the  theory  that,  as  the 
undoubted  Pharaoh  of  the  Hebrew  exodus,  he  must  have 
been  drowned  in  the  Red  Sea!  However  much  we  may 
despise  him  for  his  desecration  and  shameful  destruction 
of  the  greatest  works  of  his  ancestors,  it  must  be  admitted 
at  the  same  time  that  at  an  advanced  age,  when  such  respon- 
sibility must  have  sat  heavily,  he  manfully  met  a  grave 
crisis  in  the  history  of  his  country,  which  might  have  thrown 
it  into  the  hands  of  a  foreign  dynasty. 

The  laxity  which  had  accompanied  the  long  continued  rule 
of  two  old  men  gave  ample  opportunity  for  intrigue,  con- 
spiracy and  the  machinations  of  rival  factions.  The  death 
of  Merneptah  was  the  beginning  of  a  conflict  for  the  throne 
which  lasted  for  many  years.  Two  pretenders  were  at 
first  successful :  Amenmeses  and  Merneptah-Siptah.2  The 
former  was  but  an  ephemeral  usurper,  who  through  some 
collateral  line  of  the  royal  house  perhaps  possessed  a  dis- 
tant claim  to  the  throne.  He  was  hostile  to  the  memory  of 
Merneptah,  while  his  successor,  Merneptah-Siptah,  who 
quickly  supplanted  him,  took  possession  of  his  monuments 
in  turn  and  destroyed  his  tomb  in  the  western  valley  of 
Thebes.  We  shall  now  find  that  Nubia  was  a  fruitful  source 
of  hostility  to  the  royal  house.  As  did  the  Roman  provinces 
in  the  days  of  that  empire,  Nubia  offered  a  field,  at  a  safe 

i  III,  486.  2  III,  641. 


THE  DECLINE:  MERNEPTAH  AND  RAMSES  III  473 


distance  from  the  seat  of  power,  where  a  sentiment  against 
the  ruling  house  and  in  favour  of  some  pretender  might 
be  secretly  encouraged  without  danger  of  detection.  It  was 
perhaps  in  Nubia  that  Siptah  gained  the  ascendancy.  How- 
ever this  may  be,  we  find  him  in  his  first  year  installing  his 
viceroy  there  in  person,  and  sending  one  of  his  adherents 
about  distributing  rewards  there.1  By  such  methods  and  by 
marrying  Tewosret,  probably  a  princess  of  the  old  Pharaonic 
line,  he  succeeded  in  maintaining  himself  for  at  least  six 
years,  during  which  the  tribute  from  Nubia  seems  to  have 
been  regularly  delivered,2  and  the  customary  intercourse 
vvith  the  Syrian  provinces  maintained.3  The  viceroy  whom 
he  appointed  in  Nubia  was  one  Seti,  who  was  now  also,  as 
we  have  before  observed,  "governor  of  the  gold  country  of 
Amon."4  This  brought  him  into  intimate  relations  with 
the  powerful  priesthood  of  Amon  at  Thebes,  and  it  is  not 
impossible  that  he  improved  the  opportunity  of  this  inter- 
course and  of  his  influential  position  to  do  what  Siptah  had 
himself  done  in  Nubia.  In  any  case,  as  Siptah  now  disap- 
pears a  Seti  succeeds  him  as  the  second  of  that  name.  He 
was  later  regarded  as  the  sole  legitimate  king  of  the  three 
who  followed  Merneptah.  He  seems  to  have  ruled  with 
some  success,  for  he  built  a  small  temple  at  Karnak  and 
another  at  Eshmunen-Hermopolis.  He  took  possession  of 
the  tomb  of  Siptah  and  his  queen,  Tewosret,  although  he 
was  afterward  able  to  excavate  one  of  his  own.  But  his 
lease  of  power  was  brief;  the  long  uncurbed  nobility,  the 
hosts  of  mercenaries  in  the  armies,  the  powerful  priest- 
hoods, the  numerous  foreigners  in  positions  of  rank  at  court, 
ambitious  pretenders  and  their  adherents,— all  these  aggres- 
sive and  conflicting  influences  demanded  for  their  control  a 
strong  hand  and  unusual  qualities  of  statesmanship  in  the 
ruler.  These  qualities  Seti  II  did  not  possess,  and  he  fell 
a  victim  to  conditions  which  would  have  mastered  many  a 
stronger  man  than  he. 

With  the  disappearance  of  Seti  II  those  who  had  over- 
all, 643-4.  MH,  644.  3  iil,651.  *  III,  640. 


474 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


thrown  him  were  unable  to  gain  the  coveted  power  of  which 
they  had  deprived  him.  Complete  anarchy  ensued.  The 
whole  country  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  local  nobles,  chiefs 
and  rulers  of  towns,  and  the  condition  of  the  common  people 
under  such  misrule  was  such  as  only  the  orient  ever  expe- 
riences. 4 4 Every  man  was  thrown  out  of  his  right;  they 
had  no  chief  [literally,  *  chief  mouth']  for  many  years 
formerly  until  other  times.  The  land  of  Egypt  was  in  the 
hands  of  nobles  and  rulers  of  towns ;  one  slew  his  neighbour, 
great  and  small."1  How  long  the  period  of  "many  years" 
may  have  been  we  cannot  now  determine,  but  the  nation 
must  have  been  well  on  toward  dissolution  into  the  petty 
kingdoms  and  principalities  out  of  which  it  was  consolidated 
at  the  dawn  of  history.  Then  came  famine,  with  all  the 
misery  which  the  Arab  historians  later  depict  in  their  annals 
of  similar  periods  under  the  Mamluke  sultans  in  Egypt. 
Indeed  the  record  of  this  period  left  us  by  Ramses  III  in  the 
great  Papyrus  Harris,2  in  spite  of  its  brevity,  reads  like  a 
chapter  from  the  rule  of  some  Mamluke  sultan  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  Profiting  by  the  helplessness  of  the 
people  and  the  preoccupation  of  the  native  rulers,  one  of 
those  Syrians  who  had  held  an  official  position  at  the  court 
seized  the  crown,  or  at  least  the  power,  and  ruled  in  tyranny 
and  violence.  "He  set  the  whole  land  tributary  before  him 
together ;  he  united  his  companions  and  plundered  their  pos- 
sessions. They  made  the  gods  like  men  and  no  offerings 
were  presented  in  the  temples."3  Property  rights  were 
therefore  no  longer  respected  and  even  the  revenues  of  the 
temples  were  diverted. 

As  might  have  been  expected  the  Libyans  were  not  long  in 
perceiving  the  helplessness  of  Egypt.  Immigration  across 
the  western  frontier  of  the  Delta  began  again;  plundering 
bands  wandered  among  the  towns  from  the  vicinity  of  Mem- 
phis to  the  Mediterranean,  or  took  possession  of  the  fields 
and  settled  on  both  shores  of  the  Canopic  branch.4  At  this 
juncture,  about  1200  B.  C,  there  arose  one  Setnakht,  a  strong 

i  IV,  398.  2  Ibid.  » Ibid.  *  IV,  40,  11.  20-22 ;  405. 


THE  DECLINE:  MERNEPTAH  AND  RAMSES  III  475 


man  of  uncertain  origin,  but  probably  a  descendant  of  the 
old  line  of  Seti  I  and  Ramses  II ;  and  although  the  land  was 
beset  with  foes  within  and  without,  he  possessed  the  quali- 
ties of  organization  and  the  statesmanship  first  to  make 
good  his  claims  against  the  innumerable  local  aspirants  to 
the  crown;  and  having  subdued  these,  to  restore  order  and 
reorganize  the  almost  vanished  state  of  the  old  Pharaohs. 
His  great  task  was  accomplished  with  brilliant  success,  but 
all  that  we  know  of  it  is  contained  in  the  brief  words  left 
us  by  his  son,  Ramses  III,  who  says  of  him:  "But  when 
the  gods  inclined  themselves  to  peace,  to  set  the  land  in  its 
right  according  to  its  accustomed  manner,  they  established 
their  son,  who  came  forth  from  their  limbs  to  be  ruler  of 
every  land,  upon  their  great  throne,  even  king  Setnakht. 
.  .  .  He  set  in  order  the  entire  land,  which  had  been  rebel- 
lious; he  slew  the  rebels  who  were  in  the  land  of  Egypt; 
he  cleansed  the  great  throne  of  Egypt.  .  .  .  Every  man 
knew  his  brother,  who  had  been  walled  in  [obliged  to  live 
behind  protecting  walls].  He  established  the  temples  in 
possession  of  the  divine  offerings  to  offer  to  the  gods  accord- 
ing to  their  customary  stipulations."1  It  will  be  seen  that 
the  Syrian  usurper  had  alienated  the  priesthoods  by  vio- 
lating their  endowments,  and  that  Setnakht  took  advantage 
of  this  fact  and  made  head  against  him  by  conciliating  these 
the  wealthiest  and  most  powerful  communities  in  Egypt. 

We  shall  readily  understand  that  Setnakht 's  arduous 
achievement  left  him  little  time  for  monuments  which  might 
have  perpetuated  his  memory.  Indeed,  he  could  not  even 
find  opportunity  to  excavate  for  himself  a  tomb  at  Thebes ; 
but  seized  that  of  Siptah  and  his  queen,  Tewosret,  which 
had  already  been  appropriated,  but  eventually  not  used  by 
Seti  II.  His  reign  must  have  been  brief,  for  his  highest 
date  is  his  first  year,  scratched  on  the  back  of  a  leaf  of 
papyrus  by  a  scribe  in  trying  his  pen.  Before  he  died 
(1198  B.  C.)  he  named  as  his  successor  his  son,  Ramses, 

i  IV,  399. 


THE  DECLINE:  MERNEPTAH  AND  RAMSES  III  477 


the  third  of  the  name,  who  had  already  been  of  assistance 
to  him  in  the  government. 

With  the  Ramessid  line,  now  headed  by  Ramses  III, 
Manetho  begins  a  new  dynasty,  the  Twentieth,  although  the 
old  line  was  evidently  already  interrupted  after  Merneptah, 
and  as  we  have  said,  probably  resumed  again  in  the  person 
of  Setnakht.  Ramses  III  inherited  a  situation  precisely 
like  that  which  confronted  Merneptah  at  his  accession;  but 
being  a  young  and  vigourous  man,  he  was  better  able  suc- 
cessfully to  cope  with  it.  He  immediately  perfected  the 
organization  for  military  service,  dividing  all  the  people 
into  classes  successively  liable  for  such  service.  A  large 
proportion  of  the  standing  army,  not  exactly  determinable, 
consisted  of  Sherden  mercenaries,  as  in  Ramses  IPs  day, 
while  a  contingent  of  the  Kehek,  a  Libyan  tribe,  was  also 
in  the  ranks.1  These  mercenaries  of  course  served  as  long 
as  they  were  eligible.  Since  the  native  contingent  was  con- 
stantly shifting,  as  class  after  class  passed  through  the  army, 
the  Pharaoh  came  more  and  more  to  depend  upon  the 
mercenaries  as  the  permanent  element  in  his  army.  The 
affairs  of  the  newly  organized  government  gave  Ramses  no 
opportunity  to  deal  with  the  chronic  situation  in  the  western 
Delta  until  he  was  rudely  awakened  to  the  necessity  for 
action,  as  Merneptah  had  been.  But  more  serious  develop- 
ments had  taken  place  since  the  latter 's  Libyan  war.  The 
restless  and  turbulent  peoples  of  the  northern  Mediterranean, 
whom  the  Egyptians  designated  the  4 4 peoples  of  the  sea," 
were  showing  themselves  in  ever  increasing  numbers  in  the 
south.  Among  these,  two  in  particular  whom  we  have  not 
met  before,  the  Thekel  and  the  Peleset,  better  known  as  the 
Philistines  (Fig.  172)  of  Hebrew  history,  were  prominently 
aggressive.2  The  Peleset  were  one  of  the  early  tribes  of 
Crete,  and  the  Thekel  may  have  been  another  branch  of  the 
pre-Greek  Sikeli  or  Sicilians.  Accompanied  by  contingents 
of  Denyen  (Danaoi),  Sherden,  Weshesh  and  Shekelesh,  the 
first  two  peoples  mentioned  had  begun  an  eastward  and  south- 

*IV,  402.  »IV,  44. 


478 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


ward  movement,  doubtless  impelled  by  pressure  of  other 
peoples  advancing  in  their  rear.  Knowing  nothing  of  their 
language  or  institutions,  and  having  only  a  series  of  Egyp- 
tian reliefs,  which  depict  these  men,  their  costumes,  weapons, 
ships  and  utensils,  it  is  useless  for  us  to  speculate  as  to  their 
racial  affinities ;  but  their  immigration  evidently  is  one  of  the 
earliest  instances  of  that  slow  but  resistless  southern  shift, 
which,  first  observable  here,  is  traceable  far  down  in  Euro- 
pean history.  Moving  gradually  southward  in  Syria,  some 
of  these  immigrants  had  now  advanced  perhaps  as  far  as  the 
upper  waters  of  the  Orontes  and  the  kingdom  of  Amor;1 
while  the  more  venturesome  of  their  ships  were  coasting 
along  the  Delta  and  stealing  into  the  mouths  of  the  river  on 
plundering  expeditions.2  They  readily  fell  in  with  the  plans 
of  the  Libyan  leaders  to  invade  and  plunder  the  rich  and 
fertile  Delta.  Meryey,  the  Libyan  king,  deposed  after  his 
defeat  by  Merneptah,  had  been  followed  by  one,  Wermer, 
who  in  his  turn  was  succeeded  by  a  king  Themer,  the  leader 
of  the  present  invasion  of  Egypt.  By  land  and  water  they 
advanced  into  the  western  Delta  where  Ramses  III  promptly 
met  them  and  gave  them  battle  near  a  town  called  "User- 
mare-Meriamon  [Ramses  III]  is  Chastiser  of  Temeh"3 
[Libya].  Their  ships  were  destroyed  or  captured  and  their 
army  beaten  back  with  enormous  loss.  Over  twelve  thousand 
five  hundred  were  slain  upon  the  field  and  at  least  a  thou- 
sand captives  were  taken.  Of  the  killed  a  large  proportion 
were  from  the  ranks  of  the  sea-rovers.4  There  was  the 
usual  triumph  at  the  royal  residence,  when  the  king  viewed 
the  captives  and  the  trophies  from  the  balcony  of  the  palace, 
while  his  nobles  rejoiced  below.5  Amon,  who  had  granted 
the  great  victory,  did  not  fail  to  receive  his  accustomed 
sacrifice  of  living  victims,6  and  all  Egypt  rejoiced  in  re- 
stored security,  such  that,  as  Ramses  boasted,  a  woman 
might  walk  abroad  as  far  as  she  wished  with  her  veil  raised 
without  fear  of  molestation.7    To  strengthen  his  frontier 

iTV,  39.  2 IV,  44.  »IV,  52.  *  IV,  52-4. 

s  IV,  42,  52-5.  6 IV,  57-8.  » IV,  47,  1.  73. 


THE  DECLINE:  MERNEPTAH  AND  RAMSES  III  479 


against  the  Libyans  Ramses  now  built  a  town  and  strong- 
hold named  after  himself  upon  the  western  road  where  it 
left  the  Delta  and  passed  westward  into  the  desert  plateau. 
It  was  upon  an  elevated  point  known  as  the  "Mount  of  the 
Horns  of  the  Earth, ' '  already  mentioned  by  Merneptah  in  his 
war-records.1 

Meanwhile  the  rising  tide  from  the  north  was  threatening 
gradually  to  overwhelm  the  Egyptian  Empire ;  we  have  seen 
its  outermost  waves  breaking  on  the  shores  of  the  Delta. 
The  advanced  galleys  and  the  land  forces  of  the  northern 
maritime  peoples  which  supported  the  Libyans  against 
Ramses  III  in  the  year  five  were  but  the  premonitory  skir- 
mish line  of  a  far  more  serious  advance,  to  which  we  have 
already  adverted.  It  was  now  in  full  motion  southward 
through  Syria.  Its  hosts  were  approaching  both  by  land, 
with  their  families  in  curious,  heavy,  two-wheeled  ox-carts, 
and  by  sea  in  a  numerous  fleet  that  skirted  the  Syrian  coast. 
Well  armed  and  skilled  in  warfare  as  the  invaders  were, 
the  Syrian  city-states  were  unable  to  withstand  their  onset. 
They  overran  all  the  Hittite  country  of  northern  Syria  as 
fas  as  Carchemish  on  the  Euphrates,  past  Arvad  on  the 
Phoenician  coast,  and  up  the  Orontes  valley  to  the  kingdom 
of  Amor,  which  they  devastated.  The  Syrian  dominions 
of  the  Hittites  must  have  been  lost  and  the  Hittite  power  in 
Syria  completely  broken.  The  fleet  visited  Alasa,  or  Cyprus ; 
and  nowhere  was  an  effective  resistance  offered  them.  1 '  They 
came  with  fire,  prepared  before  them,  forward  to  Egypt. 
Their  main  support  was  Peleset.  Thekel,  Shekelesh,  Denyen 
and  Weshesh.  These  lands  were  united  and  they  laid  their 
hands  upon  the  land  as  far  as  the  circle  of  the  earth."8 
"The  countries,  which  came  from  their  isles  in  the  midst  of 
the  sea,  they  advanced  to  Egypt,  their  hearts  relying  upon 
their  arms. '  '3  In  Amor  they  established  a  central  camp  and 
apparently  halted  for  a  time.4 


»  IV,  102,  107;  III,  588,  600. 

*  Around  which  the  "  Great  Circle"  (Okeanos)  flows  (IV,  64). 

'  IV,  77.  4  IV,  64. 


480 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Ramses  III  threw  himself  with  great  energy  into  the 
preparations  for  repelling  the  attack.  He  fortified  his 
Syrian  frontier  and  rapidly  gathered  a  fleet,  which  he  dis- 
tributed in  the  northern  harbours.1  From  his  palace  bal- 
cony he  personally  superintended  the  equipment  of  the 
infantry,2  and  when  all  was  in  readiness  he  set  out  for 
Syria  to  lead  the  campaign  himself.  Where  the  land-battle 
took  place  we  are  unable  to  determine,  but  as  the  North- 
erners had  advanced  to  Amor,  it  was  at  most  not  further 
north  than  that  region.  We  learn  nothing  from  Ramses 
Ill's  records  concerning  it  beyond  vague  and  general  state- 
ments of  the  defeat  of  the  enemy,  although  in  his  reliefs 
we  see  his  Sherden  mercenaries  breaking  through  the  scat- 
tered lines  of  the  enemy  and  plundering  their  ox-carts,  bear- 
ing the  women  and  children  and  the  belongings  of  the  North- 
erners. As  there  were  Sherden  among  the  invaders,  Ramses 
Ill's  mercenaries  were  thus  called  upon  to  fight  their  own 
countrymen.  Ramses  was  also  able  to  reach  the  scene  of 
the  naval  battle,  probably  in  one  of  the  northern  harbours 
on  the  coast  of  Phoenicia,  early  enough  to  participate  in  the 
action  from  the  neighbouring  shore.  He  had  manned  his 
fleet  with  masses  of  the  dreaded  Egyptian  archers,  whose  fire 
was  so  effective  that  the  ranks  of  the  heavy  armed  North- 
erners were  completely  decimated  before  they  could  ap- 
proach within  boarding  distance.  This  fire  was  augmented 
and  rendered  still  more  effective  by  bodies  of  Egyptian 
archers  whom  Ramses  stationed  along  the  shore,  he  himself 
personally  drawing  his  bow  against  the  hostile  fleet.  As 
the  Egyptians  then  advanced  to  board,  the  enemy's  ships 
were  thrown  into  confusion  (Fig.  173).  4 4 Capsized  and 
perishing  in  their  places,  their  hearts  are  taken,  their  souls 
fly  away,  and  their  weapons  are  cast  out  upon  the  sea. 
His  arrows  pierce  whomsoever  he  will  among  them,  and  he 
who  is  hit  falls  into  the  water."3  " They  were  dragged, 
overturned  and  laid  low  upon  the  beach;  slain  and  made 
heaps  from  stern  to  bow  of  their  galleys,  while  all  their 

iIV,  65.  2 IV,  70-71.  »IV,  75. 


THE  DECLINE:  MERNEPTAH  AND  RAMSES  III  481 


things  were  cast  upon  the  waters,  for  a  remembrance  of 
Egypt."1  Those  who  escaped  the  fleet  and  swam  ashore, 
were  captured  by  the  waiting  Egyptians  on  the  beach.  In 
these  two  engagements  the  Pharaoh  struck  his  formidable 
enemy  so  decisive  a  blow  that  his  suzerainty,  at  least  as  far 
north  as  Amor,  could  not  be  questioned  by  the  invaders. 
They  continued  to  arrive  in  Syria,  but  Ramses  Ill's  double 
victory  made  these  new  settlers  and  their  new  settlements 
vassals  of  Egypt,  paying  tribute  into  the  treasury  of  the 
Pharaoh.  The  Egyptian  Empire  in  Asia  had  again  been 
saved  and  Ramses  returned  to  his  Delta  residence  to  enjoy 
a  well  earned  triumph. 

He  was  now  given  a  short  respite,  during  which  he  seems 
not  to  have  relaxed  his  vigilance  in  the  least.  This  was 
well,  for  another  migration  of  the  peoples  in  the  far  west 
caused  an  overflow  which  again  threatened  the  Delta.  The 
Meshwesh,  a  tribe  living  behind  the  Libyans,  that  is,  on  the 
west  of  them,  were  the  cause  of  the  trouble.  The  Libyans 
had  undoubtedly  received  a  chastisement  in  the  fifth  year 
of  Ramses  III  such  that  they  had  no  immediate  desire  to 
repeat  their  attempt  upon  the  Delta;  but  the  Meshwesh 
invaded  the  Libyan  country  and  laid  it  waste,2  thus  forcing 
the  unfortunate  Libyans  into  an  alliance  against  Egypt.3 
Other  tribes  were  involved,  but  the  leader  of  the  move- 
ment was  Meshesher,  son  of  Keper,  king  of  the  Mesh- 
wesh, whose  firm  purpose  was  to  migrate  and  settle  in  the 
Delta.  "The  hostile  foe  had  taken  counsel  again  to  spend 
their  lives  in  the  confines  of  Egypt,  that  they  might  take 
the  hills  and  plains  as  their  own  districts."4  "  'We  will 
settle  in  Egypt,  so  spake  they  with  one  accord,  and  they 
continuously  entered  the  boundaries  of  Egypt.'  "5  By  the 
twelfth  month  in  Ramses'  eleventh  year  they  had  begun 
the  invasion,  entering  along  the  western  road  as  in  the 
time  of  Merneptah  and  investing  the  fortress  of  Hatsho, 
some  eleven  miles  from  the  edge  of  the  desert  plateau,  near 
the  canal  called  "The  TVater  of  Re."    Ramses  attacked 

I  IV,  66.  2  IV,  87.  3  IV,  86,  95.  •  IV,  95.  5  IV,  88. 

31 


482 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


them  under  the  walls  of  Hatsho,  from  the  ramparts  of 
which  the  Egyptian  garrison  poured  a  destructive  archery 
fire  into  the  ranks  of  the  Meshwesh,  already  discomfited 
by  the  Pharaoh's  onset.  The  invaders  were  thus  thrown 
into  a  tumultuous  rout  and  received  the  fire  of  another 
neighbouring  stronghold  as  they  fled.1  Ramses  pressed 
the  pursuit  for  eleven  miles  along  the  western  road  to  the 
margin  of  the  plateau,  thus  fairly  driving  the  invaders  out 
of  the  country.2  He  halted  at  the  fortified  town  and  station, 
"Town  [or  House]  of  Usermare-Meriamon  [Ramses  III]," 
which,  it  will  be  remembered,  he  had  founded  upon  some 
high  point  at  the  edge  of  the  plateau,  the  "Mount  of  the 
Horns  of  the  Earth."  Meshesher,  the  chief  of  the  Mesh- 
wesh, was  slain  and  his  father  Keper  was  captured,3  two 
thousand  one  hundred  and  seventy  five  of  their  followers 
fell,  while  two  thousand  and  fifty  two,  of  whom  over  a 
fourth  were  females,  were  taken  captive.4  Ramses  tells 
of  the  disposition  which  he  made  of  these  captives:  "I 
settled  their  leaders  in  strongholds  in  my  name.  I  gave 
to  them  captains  of  archers  and  chief  men  of  the  tribes, 
branded  and  made  into  slaves,  impressed  with  my  name; 
their  wives  and  their  children  likewise."5  Nearly  a  thou- 
sand of  the  Meshwesh  were  assigned  to  the  care  of  a  temple- 
herd  called  "Ramses  III  is  the  Conqueror  of  the  Meshwesh 
at  the  Waters  of  Re."6  Similarly  he  established  in  cele- 
bration of  his  victory  an  annual  feast  which  he  called  in  his 
temple  calendar,  "Slaying  of  the  Meshwesh";7  and  he 
assumed  in  his  elaborate  titulary  after  his  name  the  epithets, 
"Protector  of  Egypt,  Guardian  of  the  Countries,  Conqueror 
of  the  Meshwesh,  Spoiler  of  the  Land  of  Temeh."8  The 
western  tribes  had  thus  been  hurled  back  from  the  borders 
of  the  Delta  for  the  third  successive  time,  and  Ramses  had 
no  occasion  to  apprehend  any  further  aggressions  from  that 
quarter.     The  expansive  power  of  the  Libyan  peoples, 


» IV,  102,  107. 

*  IV,  90,  11.  11-12;  97;  103,  11.  11-12;  111. 

s  IV,  405.  « IV,  224.  ?  IV,  145. 


2  IV,  102. 
*IV,  111. 
8  IV,  84. 


THE  DECLINE:  MERNEPTAH  AND  RAMSES  III  483 


although  by  no  means  exhausted,  now  no  longer  appeared 
in  united  national  action,  but  as  they  had  done  from  pre- 
historic times  they  continued  to  sift  gradually  into  the  Delta 
in  scattered  and  desultory  migration,  not  regarded  by  the 
Pharaoh  as  a  source  of  danger. 

The  commotion  among  the  northern  maritime  peoples, 
although  checked  by  Kamses  III  upon  his  Syrian  frontier, 
had  evidently  greatly  disturbed  the  vassals  of  Egypt  there. 
Whether  as  of  old  in  the  days  of  Hittite  aggression  the 
king  of  Amor  had  made  common  cause  with  the  invader  we 
cannot  now  discern;  but  following  closely  upon  the  last 
Libyan  campaign,  Ramses  found  it  necessary  to  appear 
in  Amor  with  his  army.  The  limits  and  the  course  of  the 
campaign  are  but  obscurely  hinted  at  in  the  meagre  records 
now  surviving.'1  He  stormed  at  least  five  strong  cities,  one 
of  which  was  in  Amor;  another  depicted  in  Ramses'  reliefs 
as  surrounded  by  water  was  perhaps  Kadesh ;  a  third,  rising 
upon  a  hill,  cannot  be  identified ;  and  both  of  the  remaining 
two,  one  of  which  was  called  Ereth,2  were  defended  by  Hit- 
tites.  He  probably  did  not  penetrate  far  into  the  Hittite  ter- 
ritory, although  its  cities  were  rapidly  falling  away  from  the 
Hittite  king  and  much  weakened  by  the  attacks  of  the  sea- 
peoples.  It  was  the  last  hostile  passage  between  the  Pharaoh 
and  the  Hittites ;  both  empires  were  swiftly  declining  to  their 
fall,  and  in  the  annals  of  Egypt  we  never  again  hear  of  the 
Llittites  in  Syria.  Ramses  places  in  his  lists3  of  conquered 
regions  the  cities  of  northern  Syria  to  the  Euphrates,  includ- 
ing all  that  the  Empire  had  ever  ruled  in  its  greatest  days. 
These  lists,  however,  are  largely  copied  from  those  of  his 
great  predecessors,  and  we  can  place  no  confidence  in  them. 
He  now  organized  the  Asiatic  possessions  of  Egypt  as  stably 
as  possible,  the  boundary  very  evidently  not  being  any  fur- 
ther north  than  that  of  Merneptah,  that  is,  just  including 
the  Amorite  kingdom  on  the  upper  Orontes.  To  ensure  the 
stability  which  he  desired  he  built  new  fortresses  wherever 

iIV,  115-135.  2  IV,  120.  3  iv.  131,  135. 


484 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


necessary  in  Syria  and  Palestine;1  somewhere  in  Syria  he 
also  erected  a  temple  of  Amon,  containing  a  great  image  of 
the  state  god,  before  which  the  Asiatic  dynasts  were  obliged 
to  declare  their  fealty  to  Ramses  by  depositing  their  tribute 
in  its  presence  every  year.2  Communication  with  Syria 
was  facilitated  by  the  excavation  of  a  great  well  in  the  desert 
of  Ayan,3  east  of  the  Delta,  supplementing  the  watering 
stations  established  there  by  Seti  I.  Only  a  revolt  of  the 
Beduin  of  Seir  interrupted  the  peaceful  government  of  the 
Pharaoh  in  Asia  from  this  time  forth.4 

The  influence  of  Egyptian  commerce  and  administration 
in  Syria  was  evident  in  one  important  particular  especially, 
for  it  was  now  that  the  cumbrous  and  inconvenient  clay  tablet 
was  gradually  supplemented  in  Syria  by  the  handy  papyrus 
on  which  the  Phoenician  rulers  began  to  keep  their  accounts. 
To  supply  the  demand  the  papyrus  factories  of  the  Delta  were 
exporting  their  products  in  exchange  for  Phoenician  commod- 
ities.5 It  was  of  course  impracticable,  if  not  impossible,  for 
the  Phoenicians  to  keep  rapid  daily  records  on  paper  with  pen 
and  ink  in  the  cuneiform  hand  which  was  totally  unsuited 
to  such  writing  materials.  With  the  papyrus  paper,  there- 
fore, the  hand  customarily  written  upon  it  in  Egypt  now 
made  its  way  into  Phoenicia,  where  before  the  tenth  cen- 
tury B.  C.  it  developed  into  an  alphabet  of  consonants,  which 
was  quickly  transmitted  to  the  Ionian  Greeks  and  thence 
to  Europe. 

The  chief  function  of  an  oriental  despotism,  the  collec- 
tion of  tribute  and  taxes,  now  proceeded  with  the  greatest 
regularity.  "I  taxed  them  for  their  impost  every  year," 
says  Ramses,  "  every  town  by  its  name  gathered  together 
bearing  their  tribute. " 6  The  suppression  of  occasional  dis- 
orders in  Nubia7  caused  no  disturbance  of  the  profound 
peace  which  now  settled  down  upon  the  Empire.  Ramses 
himself  depicts  it  thus:  "I  made  the  woman  of  Egypt  to 
go  with  uncovered  ears  to  the  place  she  desired,  for  no 


»  IV,  141. 

5  IV,  576,  582. 


2  IV,  219. 
«IV,  141. 


3  IV,  406. 
'IV,  136-8. 


«IV,  404. 


THE  DECLINE:  MERNEPTAH  AND  RAMSES  III  485 


stranger,  nor  any  one  upon  the  road  molested  her.  I  made 
the  infantry  and  chariotry  to  dwell  at  home  in  my  time ;  the 
Sherden  and  the  Kehek  [mercenaries]  were  in  their  towns 
lying  the  length  of  their  backs ;  they  had  no  fear,  for  there 
was  no  enemy  from  Kush,  nor  foe  from  Syria.  Their 
bows  and  their  weapons  reposed  in  their  magazines,  while 
they  were  satisfied  and  drunk  with  joy.  Their  wives  were 
with  them,  their  children  at  their  side ;  they  looked  not  be- 
hind them,  but  their  hearts  were  confident,  for  I  was  with 
them  as  the  defence  and  protection  of  their  limbs.  I  sus- 
tained alive  the  whole  land,  whether  foreigners,  common 
folk,  citizens  or  people  male  or  female.  I  took  a  man  out 
of  his  misfortune  and  I  gave  him  breath.  I  rescued  him 
from  the  oppressor  who  was  of  more  account  that  he.  I 
set  each  man  in  his  security  in  their  towns ;  I  sustained 
alive  others  in  the  hall  of  petition.  I  settled  the  land  in 
the  place  where  it  was  laid  waste.  The  land  was  well  satis- 
fied in  my  reign. ' ' 1 

Intercourse  and  commerce  with  the  outside  world  were 
now  fostered  by  the  Pharaoh  as  in  the  great  days  of  the  Em- 
pire. The  temples  of  Anion,  Re  and  Ptah  had  each  its  own 
fleet  upon  the  Mediterranean  or  the  Red  Sea,  transporting  to 
the  god's  treasury  the  products  of  Phoenicia,  Syria  and 
Punt.2  Ramses  exploited  the  copper  mines  of  Atika,  a 
region  somewhere  in  the  Peninsula  of  Sinai,  sending  a  spe- 
cial expedition  thither  in  galleys  from  some  Red  Sea  port. 
They  returned  with  great  quantities  of  the  metal  which  the 
Pharaoh  had  displayed  under  the  palace  balcony  that  all  the 
people  might  see  it.3  To  the  malachite  workings  of  the  Pen- 
insula he  likewise  sent  his  messengers,  who  brought  back 
plentiful  returns  of  the  costly  mineral  for  the  king's  splendid 
gifts  to  the  gods.4  A  more  important  expedition  consisting 
of  a  fleet  of  large  ships  was  sent  on  the  long  voyage  to  Punt. 
The  canal  from  the  Nile  through  the  TVadi  Tumilat  to  the 
Red  Sea,  existent  long  before  this  age  (see  p.  188),  was  now 
seemingly  stopped  up  and  in  disuse,  for  Ramses'  ships, 

» IV,  410.  2  IV,  211,  270,  328.  3  IV,  408.  *  IV,  409. 


486 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


after  a  successful  voyage,  returned  to  some  harbour  opposite 
Coptos,  where  the  entire  cargo  of  the  fleet  was  disembarked, 
loaded  on  donkeys  and  brought  overland  to  Coptos.  Here 
it  was  reembarked  upon  the  river  and  floated  down  stream  to 
the  royal  residence  in  the  eastern  Delta.1  Navigation  was 
now  perhaps  on  a  larger  and  more  elaborate  scale  even 
than  under  the  great  Pharaohs  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty. 
Ramses  tells  of  a  sacred  barge  of  Amon  at  Thebes,  which 
was  two  hundred  and  twenty  four  feet  long,  built  in  his 
yards,  of  enormous  timbers  of  cedar  of  Lebanon.2 

The  Pharaoh's  wealth  now  enabled  him  to  undertake 
works  of  public  utility  and  improvement.  Throughout  the 
kingdom,  and  especially  in  Thebes  and  the  royal  residence, 
he  planted  numerous  trees,  which  under  a  sky  so  prevail- 
ingly cloudless  as  that  of  Egypt,  offered  the  people  grate- 
ful shade,  in  a  land  devoid  of  natural  forests.3  He  also 
resumed  building,  which  had  been  at  a  standstill  since  the 
death  of  Ramses  II.  On  the  western  plain  of  Thebes,  at 
the  point  now  called  Medinet  Habu,  he  built  a  large  and 
splendid  temple  (Figs.  174-5)  to  Amon4  which  he  began 
early  in  his  reign.  As  the  temple  was  extended  and  en- 
larged from  rear  to  front  the  annals  of  his  campaigns  found 
place  on  the  walls  through  successive  years  following  the 
growth  of  the  building  until  the  whole  edifice  became  a  vast 
record  of  the  king's  achievements  in  war  which  the  modern 
visitor  may  read,  tracing  it  from  year  to  year  as  he  passes 
from  the  earliest  halls  in  the  rear  to  the  latest  courts  and 
pylon  at  the  front.  Here  he  may  see  the  hordes  of  the 
North  in  battle  with  Ramses'  Sherden  mercenaries,  who 
break  through  and  plunder  the  heavy  ox-carts  of  the  in- 
vaders, as  we  have  already  noticed.  The  first  naval  battle 
on  salt  water,  of  which  we  know  anything,  is  here  depicted, 
and  in  these  reliefs  we  may  study  the  armour,  clothing, 
weapons,  war-ships  and  equipment  of  these  northern 
peoples  with  whose  advent  Europe  for  the  first  time  emerges 
upon  the  stage  of  the  early  world.5    There  was  a  sacred 

iIV,  407.  2 IV,  209.  3  IV,  213,  215,  410. 

*IV,  1-20,  189-194.  s  IV,  69-82. 


THE  DECLINE:  MERNEPTAH  AND  RAMSES  III  487 


Jake  before  the  temple  with  an  elaborate  garden,  extensive 
out-buildings  and  magazines,  a  palace  of  the  king  with 
massive  stone  towers  in  connection  with  the  temple  struc- 
ture, and  a  wall  around  the  whole  forming  a  great  com- 
plex which  dominated  the  whole  southern  end  of  the  west- 
ern plain  of  Thebes,  whence  from  the  summits  of  its  tall 
pylons  one  might  look  northward  along  the  stately  line  of 
mortuary  temples,  built  by  the  emperors.  It  thus  formed, 
as  it  still  does,  the  southern  terminus  and  the  last  of  that 
imposing  array  of  buildings,  and  suggests  to  the  thoughtful 
visitor  the  end  of  the  long  line  of  imperial  Pharaohs,  of 
whom  Ramses  III  was  indeed  the  last.  Other  buildings  of 
his  have  for  the  most  part  perished;  a  small  temple  of 
Amon  at  Karnak  (Fig.  183),  which  Ramses,  quite  sensible 
of  the  hopelessness  of  any  attempt  to  rival  the  vast  Kar- 
nak halls,  placed  across  the  axis  of  the  main  temple  there, 
still  bears  witness  to  his  good  sense  in  this  respect.1  Some 
small  additions  to  the  Karnak  temple,2  besides  that  of  Mut 
on  the  south  of  the  Karnak  group,3  a  small  sanctuary  for 
Khonsu  only  begun  by  Ramses  III;4  sanctuaries  of  which 
little  or  no  trace  has  been  discovered  at  Memphis  and  Heli- 
opolis,5  and  many  chapels  to  various  gods  throughout  the 
land 6  have  for  the  most  part  perished  entirely  or  left  but 
slight  traces.  In  the  residence  city  he  laid  out  a  magnificent 
quarter  for  Amon;  "it  was  furnished  with  large  gardens 
and  places  for  walking  about,  with  all  sorts  of  date  groves 
bearing  their  fruits,  and  a  sacred  avenue  brightened  with 
the  flowers  of  every  land."7  The  quarter  possessed  nearly 
eight  thousand  slaves  for  its  service.8  He  also  erected 
in  the  city  a  temple  of  Sutekh  in  the  temenos  of  Ramses 
II 's  temple.9  The  art  displayed  by  these  buildings,  in  so 
far  as  they  have  survived,  is  clearly  in  a  decadent  stage. 
The  lines  are  heavy  and  indolent,  the  colonnades  have 
none  of  the  old  time  soaring  vigour,  springing  from 


>IV,  195. 
«IV,  214. 
*  IV,  215. 


2  IV,  197-213. 

6  IV,  250-265,  311-328. 

8 IV,  225. 


»IV,  196. 

e  IV,  355-361. 

»IV,  362,  369. 


488 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


the  pavement  and  carrying  the  beholder's  eye  involun- 
tarily aloft;  but  they  visibly  labour  under  the  burden 
imposed  upon  them  and  clearly  express  the  sluggish 
spirit  of  the  decadent  architect  who  designed  them.  The 
work  also  is  careless  and  slovenly  in  execution.  The 
reliefs  which  cover  the  vast  surfaces  of  the  Medinet  Habu 
temple  are  with  few  exceptions  but  weak  imitations  of  the 
fine  sculptures  of  Seti  I  at  Karnak,  badly  drawn  and  exe- 
cuted without  feeling.  Only  here  and  there  do  we  find  a 
flash  of  the  old-time  power,  as  in  the  representation  of 
Ramses  hunting  the  wild  bull  (Fig.  176)  on  the  walls  of 
this  same  temple,  a  relief  which,  in  spite  of  some  bad  faults 
in  the  drawing,  is  a  composition  of  much  strength  and  feel- 
ing, with  a  notable  sense  of  landscape.  A  bold  and  entirely 
new  effort  of  the  time  is  the  representation  of  the  Pharaoh's 
naval  victory  on  the  Syrian  coast  (Fig.  173),  a  relief  re- 
quiring some  originality  and  invention,  but  too  involved 
for  strength  and  effect. 

The  imitation  so  evident  in  the  art  of  Ramses  III 's  reign 
is  characteristic  of  the  time  in  all  respects.  The  records  of 
the  reign  are  but  weak  repetitions  of  the  earlier  royal  en- 
comiums, embellished  with  figures  so  extremely  far-fetched 
as  to  be  often  unintelligible.  It  was  with  a  feeling  of  de- 
pression not  easily  shaken  off  that  the  author  emerged  from 
months  of  application  to  the  vast  walls  of  the  Medinet  Habu 
temple  covered  with  hundreds  on  hundreds  of  lines  of  arid 
verbiage  ever  reiterating  the  valour  of  the  king  on  this  or 
that  occasion  in  conventional  terms  which  dropped  from 
the  pen  of  the  fawning  scribe,  as  such  words  had  done  for 
centuries.  Taking  up  any  given  war,  one  finds  that  after 
working  through  difficult  inscriptions  covering  several 
thousand  square  feet  of  wall  surface,  the  net  result  is  but  a 
meagre  and  bald  account  of  a  great  campaign  the  facts  of 
which  are  scattered  here  and  there  and  buried  so  deeply  be- 
neath scores  of  meaningless  conventional  phrases  that  they 
can  be  discovered  only  with  the  greatest  industry.  The  inspir- 
ing figure  of  a  young  and  active  Pharaoh  hurrying  his  armies 


THE  DECLINE:  MERNEPTAH  AND  RAMSES  III  489 


from  frontier  to  frontier  of  his  empire  and  repeatedly 
hurling  back  the  most  formidable  invasions  Egypt  had  ever 
suffered,  awoke  no  response  in  the  conventional  soul  of  the 
priestly  scribe,  whose  lot  it  was  to  write  the  record  of  these 
things  for  the  temple  wall.  He  possessed  only  the  worn 
and  long  spent  currency  of  the  older  dynasties  from  which 
he  drew  whole  hymns,  songs  and  lists  to  be  furbished  up 
and  made  to  do  service  again  in  perpetuating  the  glory  of 
a  really  able  and  heroic  ruler.  Perhaps  we  should  not  com- 
plain of  the  scribe,  for  the  king  himself  considered  it  his 
highest  purpose  to  restore  and  reproduce  the  times  of 
Ramses  II.  His  own  name  was  made  up  of  the  first  half 
of  Ramses  IPs  throne-name,  and  the  second  half  of  his 
personal  name;  he  named  his  children  and  his  horses  after 
those  of  Ramses  II,  and  like  him,  he  was  followed  on  his 
campaigns  by  a  tame  lion  who  trotted  beside  his  chariot  on 
the  march.  The  achievements  of  Ramses  III  were  entirely 
dictated  by  the  circumstances  in  which  he  found  himself, 
rather  than  by  any  positive  tendencies  in  his  own  character. 
But  it  must  be  admitted  that  he  was  confronted  by  a  situa- 
tion against  which  he  could  have  done  little  even  if  he  had 
attempted  to  make  head  against  it.  All  immediate  danger 
from  without  had  now  apparently  disappeared,  but  the 
nation  was  slowly  declining  as  a  result  of  decay  from  within. 
While  Ramses  III  had  shown  himself  fully  able  to  cope 
with  the  assaults  from  the  outside,  he  did  not  possess  the 
qualities  of  virile  independence  which  in  some  men  would 
have  dictated  strenuous  opposition  to  the  prevailing  ten- 
dencies of  the  time  within  the  state. 

This  was  especially  evident  in  his  attitude  toward  the 
religious  conditions  inherited  from  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty. 
We  have  already  pointed  out  that  Setnakht,  Ramses  Ill's 
father,  gained  the  throne  by  conciliating  the  priesthoods, 
as  so  many  of  his  successful  predecessors  had  done.  Ram- 
ses III  made  no  effort  to  shake  off  the  priestly  influences 
with  which  the  crown  was  thus  encumbered.  The  temples 
were  fast  becoming  a  grave  political  and  economic  menace. 


490 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


In  the  face  of  this  fact  Ramses  III  continued  the  policy  of 
his  ancestors,  and  with  the  most  lavish  liberality  poured 
the  wealth  of  the  royal  house  into  the  sacred  coffers.  He 
himself  says:  "I  did  mighty  deeds  and  benefactions,  a  nu- 
merous multitude,  for  the  gods  and  goddesses  of  South  and 
North.  I  wrought  upon  their  images  in  the  gold-houses,  I 
built  that  which  had  fallen  to  ruin  in  their  temples.  I  made 
houses  and  temples  in  their  courts ;  I  planted  for  them 
groves;  I  dug  for  them  lakes;  I  founded  for  them  divine 
offerings  of  barley  and  wheat,  wine,  incense,  fruit,  cattle 
and  fowl;  I  built  the  [chapels  called]  'Shadows  of  Re'  for 
their  districts,  abiding,  with  divine  offerings  for  every 
day."1  He  is  here  speaking  of  the  smaller  temples  of  the 
country,  while  for  the  three  great  gods  of  the  land:  Amon, 
Re  and  Ptah,  he  did  vastly  more.  The  opulent  splendour 
with  which  the  rituals  of  these  gods  were  daily  observed 
beggars  description.  "I  made  for  thee,"  says  Ramses  to 
Amon,  "a  great  sacrificial  tablet  of  silver  in  hammered 
work,  mounted  with  fine  gold,  the  inlay  figures  being  of 
Ketem-gold,  bearing  statues  of  the  king  of  gold  in  ham- 
mered work,  even  an  offering  tablet  bearing  thy  divine 
offerings,  offered  before  thee.  I  made  for  thee  a  great 
vase-stand  for  thy  forecourt,  mounted  with  fine  gold,  with 
inlay  of  stone;  its  vases  were  of  gold,  containing  wine  and 
beer  in  order  to  present  them  to  thee  every  morning.  .  .  . 
I  made  for  thee  great  tablets  of  gold,  in  beaten  work, 
engraved  with  the  great  name  of  thy  majesty,  bearing  my 
prayers.  I  made  for  thee  other  tablets  of  silver,  in  beaten 
work,  engraved  with  the  great  name  of  thy  majesty,  with 
the  decrees  of  thy  house."2  All  that  the  god  used  was  of 
the  same  richness;3  Ramses  says  of  his  sacred  barge:  "I 
hewed  for  thee  thy  august  ship  'Userhet, '  of  one  hundred 
and  thirty  cubits  [nearly  two  hundred  and  twenty  four  feet 
length]  upon  the  river,  of  great  cedars  of  the  royal  domain, 
of  remarkable  size,  overlaid  with  fine  gold  to  the  water 
line,  like  the  barque  of  the  sun,  when  he  comes  from  the 

»IV,  363.  2  IV,  199,  202.  *  iy,  J  98-210. 


THE  DECLINE:  MERNEPTAH  AND  RAMSES  III  491 


east,  and  every  one  lives  at  the  sight  of  him.  A  great  shrine 
was  in  the  midst  of  it,  of  fine  gold,  with  inlay  of  every  costly 
stone  like  a  palace ;  rams  '-heads  of  gold  from  front  to  rear, 
fitted  with  uraeus-serpents  wearing  crowns."1  In  making 
the  great  temple  balances  for  weighing  the  offerings  to  Re 
at  Heliopolis  nearly  two  hundred  and  twelve  pounds  of 
gold  and  four  hundred  and  sixty  one  pounds  of  silver  were 
consumed.2  The  reader  may  peruse  pages  of  such  descrip- 
tions in  the  great  Papyrus  Harris, 3  of  which  we  shall  later 
give  some  account.  Such  magnificence,  while  it  might  fre- 
quently be  due  to  incidental  gifts  of  the  king,  must  never- 
theless be  supported  by  an  enormous  income,  derived  from 
a  vast  fortune  in  lands,  slaves  and  revenues.  Thus,  to 
the  god  Khnum  at  Elephantine,  Ramses  III  confirmed  the 
possession  of  both  sides  of  the  river  from  that  city  to 
Takompso,  a  strip  over  seventy  miles  in  length,  known  to 
the  Greeks  as  the  Dodekaschoinos  or  Twelve  Schceni.4  The 
records  of  Ramses  III  for  the  first  and  only  time  in  the 
course  of  Egyptian  history,  enable  us  to  determine  the 
total  amount  of  property  owned  and  controlled  by  the 
temples.  An  inventory  in  the  Papyrus  Harris  covering 
almost  all  the  temples  of  the  country  shows  that  they  pos- 
sessed over  one  hundred  and  seven  thousand  slaves;5  that 
is,  one  person  in  every  fifty  to  eighty  of  the  population  was 
temple  property.  The  first  figure  is  the  more  probable,  so 
that  in  all  likelihood  one  person  in  every  fifty  was  a  slave  of 
some  temple.  The  temples  thus  owned  two  percent  of  the  pop- 
ulation. In  lands  we  find  the  sacred  endowments  amounting  to 
nearly  three  quarters  of  a  million  acres,  that  is,  nearly  one 
seventh,  or  over  fourteen  and  a  half  percent  of  the  cultivable 
] and  of  the  country;  and  as  some  of  the  smaller  temples 
like  that  of  Khnum  just  mentioned,  are  omitted  in  the  in- 
ventory it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  total  holdings  of  the  temples 
amounted  to  fifteen  percent  of  the  available  land  of  the 
country.6    These  are  the  only  items  in  the  temple  estates 


i  IV,  209. 
«IV,  146-150. 


2  IV,  256,  285. 
s  IV,  166. 


3  IV,  151-412. 
e  IV,  167. 


492 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


which  can  be  safely  compared  with  the  total  national 
wealth  and  resources;  but  they  by  no  means  complete  the 
list  of  property  held  by  the  temples.  They  owned  nearly  a 
half  million  head  of  large  and  small  cattle;  their  combined 
fleets  numbered  eighty  eight  vessels,  some  fifty  three  work- 
shops and  ship-yards  consumed  a  portion  of  the  raw  ma- 
terials, which  they  received  as  income ;  while  in  Syria,  Kush 
and  Egypt  they  owned  in  all  one  hundred  and  sixty  nine 
towns.1  When  we  remember  that  all  this  vast  property  in 
a  land  of  less  than  ten  thousand  square  miles  and  some  five 
or  six  million  inhabitants  was  entirely  exempt  from  tax- 
ation2 it  will  be  seen  that  the  economic  equilibrium  of  the 
state  was  endangered. 

These  extreme  conditions  were  aggravated  by  the  fact 
that  no  proper  proportion  had  been  observed  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  gifts  to  the  gods.  By  far  too  large  a  share  of 
them  had  fallen  to  the  lot  of  Amon,  whose  insatiable  priest- 
hood had  so  gained  the  ascendancy  that  their  claims  on  the 
royal  treasury  far  exceeded  those  of  all  other  temples  put 
together.  Besides  the  great  group  of  temples  at  Thebes, 
the  god  possessed  numerous  other  sanctuaries,  chapels  and 
statues,  with  their  endowments  scattered  throughout  the 
land.3  He  had  a  temple  in  Syria,4  as  we  have  already 
noticed,  and  a  new  one  in  Nubia,5  besides  those  built  there 
by  Ramses  II.  In  his  twelfth  year  after  the  victorious 
conclusion  of  all  his  wars,  the  finally  completed  temple, 
which  he  had  erected  for  Amon  at  Medinet  Habu  (Thebes), 
was  inaugurated  with  a  new  and  elaborate  calendar  of 
feasts,  the  record  of  which  filled  all  one  wall  of  the  temple 
for  almost  its  entire  length.6  The  feast  of  Opet,  the  greatest 
of  Amon's  feasts,  which  in  the  days  of  Thutmose  III  was 
eleven  days  long,  is  credited  in  this  calendar  with  twenty 
four  days;  and  summarizing  the  calendar  as  far  as  pre- 
served, we  find  that  there  was  an  annual  feast  day  of  Amon 
on  an  average  every  three  days,  not  counting  the  monthly 

iIV,  p.  97.  *IV,  146.  8  IV,  189-226. 

*  IV,  219.  6  IV,  218.  6  IV,  139-145. 


THE  DECLINE:  MERNEPTAH  AND  RAMSES  III  493 

feasts.'1  Yet  Ramses  III  later  lengthened  even  the  feasts 
of  this  calendar,  so  that  the  feast  of  Opet  became  twenty 
seven  days  long  and  the  feast  of  his  own  coronation,  which 
lasted  but  one  day  as  prescribed  by  the  calendar,  finally 
continued  for  twenty  days  each  year.2  Little  wonder  that 
the  records  of  a  band  of  workmen  in  the  Theban  necropolis 
under  one  of  Ramses  Ill's  successors  show  almost  as  many 
holidays  as  working  days.3  All  these  lengthened  feasts  of 
course  mean  increased  endowment  and  revenue  for  the  ser- 
vice of  Amon.  The  treasure  rooms  of  this  Medinet  Habu 
temple  still  stand,  and  their  walls  bear  testimony  to  the 
lavish  wealth  with  which  they  were  filled.4  Ramses  himself 
in  another  record  says:  "I  filled  its  treasury  with  the 
products  of  the  land  of  Egypt:  gold,  silver,  every  costly 
stone  by  the  hundred-thousand.  Its  granary  was  overflow- 
ing with  barley  and  wheat;  its  lands,  its  herds,  their  mul- 
titudes were  like  the  sand  of  the  shore.  I  taxed  for  it  the 
Southland  as  well  as  the  Northland;  Nubia  and  Syria  came 
to  it,  bearing  their  impost.  It  was  filled  with  captives, 
which  thou  gavest  me  among  the  Nine  Bows,  and  with 
classes  [successive  enforced  levies],  which  I  created  by  the 
ten-thousand.  ...  I  multiplied  the  divine  offerings  pre- 
sented before  thee,  of  bread,  wine,  beer  and  fat  geese; 
numerous  oxen,  bullocks,  calves,  cows,  white  oryxes  and 
gazelles  offered  in  his  slaughter  yard."5  As  in  the  days 
of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  conquerors,  the  bulk  of  the  spoil 
from  his  wars  went  into  the  treasury  of  Amon.6  The  result 
of  this  long  continued  policy  was  inevitable.  Of  the  nearly 
three  quarters  of  a  million  acres  of  land  held  by  the  temples, 
Amon  owned  over  five  hundred  and  eighty  three  thousand, 
over  five  times  as  much  as  his  nearest  competitor,  Re  of 
Heliopolis,  who  had  only  one  hundred  and  eight  thousand; 
and  over  nine  times  the  landed  estate  of  Ptah  of  Memphis. 7 
Of  the  fifteen  percent  of  the  lands  of  the  entire  country  held 
by  all  the  temples,  Amon  thus  owned  over  two  thirds.  While, 

»  IV,  144.  *  IV,  236-7.  3  Erraan,  Life  in  Ancient  Egypt. 

*  IV,  25-34.  5  IV,  190.  «  IV,  224,  405.  «  IV,  167. 


494 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


as  we  have  stated,  the  combined  temples  owned  in  slaves 
not  more  than  two  percent  of  the  whole  population,  Amon 
held  probably  one  and  a  half  percent,  in  number  over 
eighty  six  thousand  five  hundred,  which  exceeded  by  seven 
times  the  number  owned  by  Ke.1  In  other  items  of  wealth 
the  same  proportion  is  observable ;  Amon  owned  five  great 
herds,  numbering  over  four  hundred  and  twenty  one  thou- 
sand large  and  small  cattle,  of  the  less  than  half  a  million 
head  held  by  all  the  temples;  of  five  hundred  and  thirteen 
temple  gardens  and  groves,  Amon  owned  four  hundred  and 
thirty  three ;  of  the  fleet  of  temple  ships,  numbering  eighty 
eight,  all  but  five  were  the  property  of  Amon;  and  forty 
six  work  shops  of  the  fifty  three  owned  by  the  temples  were 
his.2  He  was  the  only  god  possessing  towns  in  Syria  and 
Kush,  of  which  he  had  nine,  but  in  towns  of  Egypt  he  was 
surpassed  by  Re,  who  owned  one  hundred  and  three,  as 
against  only  fifty  six  held  by  Amon.  As  we  know  nothing 
of  the  size  and  value  of  these  towns,  the  number  is  hardly 
significant  in  view  of  the  immense  superiority  of  Amon  in 
acreage  of  temple  lands.  In  income  Amon  received  an 
annual  item  of  twenty  six  thousand  grains  of  gold,  which 
none  of  the  other  temples  received.  This  doubtless  came 
from  the  "gold  country  of  Amon,"  of  which  he  had  gained 
possession  toward  the  end  of  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty,  as 
we  have  seen.  In  silver  his  income  exceeded  by  seventeen 
times,  in  copper  by  twenty  one  times,  in  cattle  by  seven 
times,  in  wine  by  nine  times,  in  ships  by  ten  times,  the 
income  of  all  the  other  temples  combined.3  His  estate  and 
his  revenues,  second  only  to  those  of  the  king,  now  assumed 
an  important  economic  role  in  the  state,  and  the  political 
power  wielded  by  a  community  of  priests  who  controlled 
such  vast  wealth  was  from  now  on  a  force  which  no  Pharaoh 
could  ignore.  Without  compromising  with  it  and  contin- 
ually conciliating  it,  no  Pharaoh  could  have  ruled  long, 
although  the  current  conclusion  that  the  gradual  usurpa- 
tion of  power  and  final  assumption  of  the  throne  by  the 

iIV,  165.  2 IV,  165.  »IV,  170-171. 


THE  DECLINE:  MERNEPTAH  AND  RAMSES  III  495 
• 

High  Priest  of  Anion  was  due  solely  to  the  wealth  of  Amon 
is  not  supported  by  our  results.  Other  forces  contrib- 
uted largely  to  this  result,  as  we  shall  see.  Among  these 
was  the  gradual  extension  of  Anion's  influence  to  the  other 
temples  and  their  fortunes.  His  High  Priest  had  in  the 
Eighteenth  Dynasty  become  head  of  all  the  priesthoods 
of  Egypt;  in  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty  he  had  gained 
hereditary  hold  upon  his  office;  his  Theban  temple  now 
became  the  sacerdotal  capital,  where  the  records  of  the 
other  temples  were  kept;  his  priesthood  was  given  more  or 
less  supervision  over  their  administration,1  and  the  furtive 
power  of  Amon  was  thus  gradually  extended  over  all  the 
sacred  estates  in  the  land. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose,  as  is  commonly  done,  that 
Ramses  III  was  solely  or  even  chiefly  responsible  for  these 
conditions.  However  lavish  his  contributions  to  the  sacer- 
dotal wealth,  they  never  could  have  raised  it  to  the  propor- 
tions which  we  have  indicated.  This  is  as  true  of  the  for- 
tune of  Amon  in  particular  as  of  the  temple  wealth  in  gen- 
eral. The  gift  of  over  seventy  miles  of  Nubian  Nile  shores 
(the  Dodekaschoinos)  to  Khnum  by  Ramses  III  was  but 
the  confirmation  by  him  of  an  old  title;  and  the  enormous 
endowments  enumerated  in  the  great  Papyrus  Harris,  long 
supposed  to  be  the  gifts  of  Ramses  III,  are  but  inventories 
of  the  old  sacerdotal  estates,  in  the  possession  of  which  the 
temples  are  confirmed  by  him.2  These  long  misunderstood 
inventories  are  the  source  of  the  above  statistics,  which 
reveal  to  us  the  situation  and  they  show  that  it  was  an 
inherited  situation,  created  by  the  prodigal  gifts  of  the 
Eighteenth  and  Nineteenth  Dynasties,  beginning  at  least 
as  far  back  as  Thutmose  III,  who  presented  three  towns  in 
Syria  to  Amon.  By  generations  of  this  policy  the  vast 
wealth  of  the  temples  had  gradually  been  accumulated,  and 
against  the  insatiable  priesthoods  long  accustomed  to  the 
gratification  of  unlimited  exactions,  Ramses  III  was  unable, 
and  indeed  did  not  attempt  to  make  a  stand.    On  the  con- 

*  IV,  202.  2  iv,  157-8. 


496  A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 

trary,  as  we  have  seen,  being  evidently  in  need  of  sacerdotal 
support  to  maintain  himself,  he  deliberately  continued  the 
traditional  policy.  Yet  his  treasury  must  have  sorely  felt 
the  draughts  upon  it,  with  its  income  gradually  shrinking, 
while  the  demands  upon  it  in  nowise  relaxed.  Although 
we  know  that  payments  from  the  government  treasury  were 
as  slow  in  ancient,  as  they  have  been  until  recently  in 
modern  Egypt,  yet,  making  all  due  allowance  for  this  fact, 
it  can  hardly  be  an  accident  that  under  the  reign  of  Ramses 
III  we  can  follow  the  painful  struggles  of  a  band  of  necrop- 
olis workmen  in  their  endeavours  to  secure  the  monthly 
fifty  sacks  of  grain  due  them.  Month  after  month  they  are 
obliged  to  resort  to  the  extremest  measures,  climbing  the 
necropolis  wall  and  driven  by  hunger,  threatening  to  storm 
the  very  granary  itself  if  food  is  not  given  them.  Told 
by  the  vizier  himself  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  treasury 
or  deceived  by  the  glib  promises  of  some  intermediate  scribe 
they  would  return  to  their  daily  task  only  to  find  starvation 
forcing  them  to  throw  down  their  work  and  to  gather  with 
cries  and  tumult  at  the  office  of  their  superior,  demanding 
their  monthly  rations.1  Thus  while  the  poor  in  the  employ 
of  the  state  were  starving  at  the  door  of  an  empty  treasury, 
the  store-houses  of  the  gods  were  groaning  with  plenty,  and 
Amon  was  yearly  receiving  over  two  hundred  and  five 
thousand  bushels  of  grain  for  the  offerings  at  his  annual 
feasts  alone.2 

The  only  forces  which  Ramses  III  and  his  contemporaries 
could  bring  into  play  against  the  powerful  priestly  coteries 
were  the  numerous  foreigners  among  the  slaves  owned  by 
the  crown.  These,  branded  with  the  name  of  the  king,  were 
poured  into  the  ranks  of  the  army  in  large  numbers,3  aug- 
menting the  voluntary  service  of  the  mercenaries  already 
there.  The  armies  with  which  Ramses  III  beat  off  the 
assailants  of  his  empire  were,  as  we  have  already  remarked, 
largely  made  up  of  foreigners,  and  their  numbers  constantly 
increased  as  the  Pharaoh  found  himself  less  and  less  able 

i  Erman,  Life  in  Ancient  Egypt,  124-126.  * IV,  174.         » IV,  405. 


THE  DECLINE:  MERNEPTAH  AND  RAMSES  III  497 


to  maintain  the  mastery  in  a  situation  of  ever  increasing 
difficulty  and  complication.  He  was  soon  forced  also  to 
surround  his  person  with  numbers  of  these  foreign  slaves. 
A  class  of  personal  attendants,  already  known  in  the  Middle 
Kingdom  by  a  term  which  we  may  best  translate  as  "  but- 
ler," originally  rendered  service  to  the  table  and  larder  of 
the  nobles  or  the  king.  These  slaves  in  Ranises  Ill's  ser- 
vice were  largely  natives  of  Syria,  Asia  Minor  and  Libya, 
especially  Syria,  and  as  the  king  found  them  more  and  more 
useful,  they  gradually,  although  only  slaves,  gained  high 
office  in  the  state  and  at  the  court.  It  was  a  situation,  as 
Erman  has  remarked,  precisely  like  that  at  the  court  of 
the  Egyptian  sultans  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Of  eleven  such 
' 1 butlers"  known  to  us  in  the  service  of  Ramses  III,  five 
were  foreigners  in  places  of  power  and  influence,1  and  we 
shall  soon  have  occasion  to  observe  the  prominent  role  they 
played  at  a  fatal  crisis  in  his  reign.  While  all  was  out- 
wardly splendour  and  tranquillity  and  the  whole  nation  was 
celebrating  the  king  who  had  saved  the  Empire,  the  forces 
of  decay  which  had  for  generations  been  slowly  gathering 
in  the  state  were  rapidly  reaching  the  acute  stage.  An  insa- 
tiable and  insidious  priesthood  commanding  enormous 
wealth,  a  foreign  army  ready  to  serve  the  master  who  paid 
most  liberally,  and  a  personal  following  of  alien  slaves 
whose  fidelity  likewise  depended  entirely  upon  the  imme- 
diate gain  in  view,— these  were  the  factors  which  Ramses 
III  was  constantly  forced  to  manipulate  and  employ,  each 
against  the  others.  Add  to  these  the  host  of  royal  rela- 
tives and  dependents,  who  were  perhaps  of  all  the  most  dan- 
gerous element  in  the  situation,  and  we  shall  not  wonder  at 
the  outcome. 

While  the  whole  situation  abounded  in  unhealthy  symp- 
toms, the  first  specific  instance  of  the  danger  inherent  in 
it,  which  we  are  able  to  discern,  is  the  revolt  of  Ramses' 
vizier,  who  shut  himself  up  in  the  Delta  city  of  Athribis: 
but  he  had  miscalculated  the  power  at  his  command;  the 

i  IV,  419  ff. 
32 


498 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


place  was  taken  by  Ramses  and  the  revolt  suppressed.1 
Peace  and  outward  tranquility  were  again  restored.  As 
the  thirtieth  anniversary  of  the  king's  appointment  as 
crown  prince  approached,  elaborate  preparations  were  made 
for  its  commemoration.  He  sent  his  new  vizier,  Ta,  south- 
ward in  the  year  twenty  nine  to  collect  the  processional 
images  of  all  the  gods  who  participated  in  a  celebration  of 
the  usual  splendour  at  Memphis.2  Something  over  a  year 
after  this  stately  commemoration,  as  the  old  king  was  begin- 
ning to  feel  his  years,  a  more  serious  crisis  developed.  The 
harem,  the  source  of  so  many  attempts  against  the  throne, 
was  the  origin  of  the  trouble.  In  the  early  orient  there  is 
always  among  the  many  mothers  of  the  king's  children  a 
princess  or  queen  who  feels  that  her  son  has  a  better  claim 
to  the  succession  than  the  son  of  the  fortunate  rival,  who 
has  succeeded  in  gaining  for  him  the  nomination  as  the 
king's  successor.  Such  a  queen  in  Ramses  Ill's  harem, 
named  Tiy,  now  began  furtive  efforts  to  secure  for  her 
son,  Pentewere,  the  crown,  which  had  been  promised  to 
another  prince.3  A  plot  against  the  old  king's  life  was  rap- 
idly formed,  and  Tiy  enlisted  as  her  chief  coadjutors  the 
" chief  of  the  chamber,"  Pebekkamen,  and  a  royal  butler 
named  Mesedsure.  With  oriental  superstition,  Pebekkamen 
first  procured  an  outfit  of  magical  waxen  figures  of  gods 
and  men,  by  which  he  believed  he  was  empowered  to  dis- 
able or  evade  the  people  of  the  harem  guard,  who  might 
otherwise  have  discovered  and  intercepted  one  of  their 
numerous  messages  necessary  to  the  development  of  the 
plot.  Pebekkamen  and  Mesedsure  then  secured  the  coop- 
eration of  ten  harem  officials  of  various  ranks,  four  royal 
butlers,  an  overseer  of  the  treasury,  a  general  in  the  army 
named  Peyes,  three  royal  scribes  in  various  offices,  Pebek- 
kamen's  own  assistant,  and  several  subordinate  officials.  As 
most  of  these  people  were  in  the  personal  service  of  the 
Pharaoh,  the  dangerous  character  of  the  complot  is  evident. 
Six  wives  of  the  officers  of  the  harem  gate  were  won  to 

»IV,  361.       2 IV,  335,  413-15.      3  All  the  following,  from  IV,  416-456. 


THE  DECLINE:  MERXEPTAH  AND  RAMSES  III  ^99 


the  enterprise,  and  they  proved  very  useful  in  securing  the 
transmission  of  messages  from  inmates  of  the  harem  to  their 
relatives  and  friends  outside.  Among  these  inmates  was 
the  sister  of  the  commander  of  archers  in  Xubia,  who  smug- 
gled out  a  letter  to  her  brother  and  thus  gained  his  support. 
All  was  ripe  for  a  revolt  and  revolution  outside  the  palace, 
intended  to  accompany  the  murder  of  the  king  and  enable 
the  conspirators  the  more  easily  to  seize  the  government  and 
place  their  pretender,  Pentewere,  on  the  throne.  At  this 
juncture  the  king's  party  gained  full  information  of  the 
conspiracy,  the  attempt  on  the  king's  life  was  foiled,  the 
plans  for  revolt  were  checkmated,  and  the  people  involved 
in  the  treason  were  all  seized.  The  old  Pharaoh,  sorely 
shaken  by  the  ordeal,  and  possibly  suffering  bodily  injury 
from  the  attempted  assassination,  immediately  appointed  a 
special  court  for  the  trial  of  the  conspirators.  The  very 
words  of  the  commission  empowering  this  court  indicate 
his  probable  consciousness  that  he  would  not  long  survive 
the  shock,  while  at  the  same  time  they  lay  upon  the  judges  a 
responsibility  for  impartial  justice  on  the  merits  of  the  case, 
with  a  judicial  objectivity  which  is  remarkable  in  one  who 
held  the  lives  of  the  accused  in  his  unchallenged  power  and 
had  himself  just  been  the  victim  of  a  murderous  assault 
at  their  hands.  The  king  thus  commissioned  this  special 
court:  "I  commission  the  judges  [here  follows  a  list  of 
their  names  and  offices],  saying:  'As  for  the  words  which 
the  people  have  spoken,  I  know  them  not.  Go  ye  and  ex- 
amine them.  When  ye  go  and  ye  examine  them,  ye  shall 
cause  to  die  by  their  own  hand  those  who  should  die  without 
my  knowing  it.  Ye  shall  execute  punishment  upon  the 
others  likewise  without  my  knowing  it.  .  .  .  Give  heed  and 
have  a  care  lest  ye  execute  punishment  upon  [anyone] 
unjustly.  .  .  .  Xow  I  say  to  you  in  very  truth,  as  for  all 
that  has  been  done,  and  those  who  have  done  it,  let  all  that 
they  have  done  fall  upon  their  own  heads ;  while  I  am  pro- 
tected and  defended  forever,  while  I  am  among  the  just 
kings,  who  are  before  Amon-Ke,  king  of  gods,  and  before 


500 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Osiris,  ruler  of  eternity."  As  Osiris  is  the  god  of  the  dead, 
the  king's  closing  words  possibly  indicate  that  he  expected 
his  demise  to  occur  before  the  conclusion  of  the  trials.1 

The  court  thus  commissioned  consisted  of  fourteen  officials, 
seven  of  whom  were  royal ' '  butlers, ' '  and  among  these  were 
a  Libyan,  a  Lycian,  a  Syrian  named  Maharbaal  ("Baal 
hastens"),  and  another  foreigner,  probably  from  Asia 
Minor.  We  see  how  largely  the  Pharaoh  depended  in  his 
extremity  upon  the  purchased  fidelity  of  these  foreign 
slaves.  The  flaccid  character  of  the  judges  and  the  dan- 
gerous persistence  of  the  accused  is  shown  by  a  remarkable 
incident  which  now  followed  the  appointment  of  the  court. 
Some  of  the  women  conspirators,  led  by  the  general,  Peyes, 
gained  such  influence  over  the  bailiffs  in  charge  of  the  pris- 
oners that  they  went  with  Peyes  and  the  women  to  the 
houses  of  two  of  the  judges,  who,  with  amazing  indiscretion, 
received  and  caroused  with  them.  The  two  indiscreet 
judges,  with  one  of  their  colleagues,  who  was  really  inno- 
cent, and  the  two  bailiffs,  were  immediately  put  on  trial. 
The  innocence  of  the  third  judge  was  made  evident  and  he 
was  acquitted,  but  the  others  were  found  guilty,  and  were 
sentenced  to  have  their  ears  and  noses  cut  off.  Imme- 
diately following  the  execution  of  the  sentence,  one  of  the 
unfortunate  judges  committed  suicide.2  The  trials  of  the 
conspirators  continued  with  regularity,  and  from  the  rec- 
ords of  three  different  prosecutions3  we  are  able  to  trace 
the  conviction  of  thirty  two  officials  of  all  ranks  including 
the  unhappy  young  pretender  himself,  who  was  doubtless 
only  an  unfortunate  tool,  and  the  audacious  Peyes,  the 
general  who  had  compromised  the  two  judges.  The  records 
of  the  trial  of  queen  Tiy  herself  are  not  preserved,  so  that 
we  cannot  determine  her  fate,  but  we  have  no  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  it  was  better  than  that  of  all  the  others,  who,  as 
ordered  by  the  king,  were  allowed  to  take  their  own  lives. 
Meantime  the  thirty  second  anniversary  of  the  Pharaoh's 

» IV,  424.  2  iv,  451-3.  *  IV,  416-456. 


THE  DECLINE:  MERNEPTAH  AND  RAMSES  III  501 


accession  was  celebrated  with  the  gorgeous  twenty  days' 
feast  customary  since  his  twenty  second  year.1  But  the 
old  king  survived  only  twenty  days  more  and  before  the 
prosecution  of  his  would-be  assassins  was  ended  he  passed 
away  (1167  B.  C.)  having  ruled  thirty  one  years  and  forty 
days. 

1  IV,  237. 


BOOK  VII 
THE  DECADENCE 


I 


CHAPTER  XXIV 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  EMPIKE 

The  death  of  Ramses  III  introduced  a  long  line  of  nine 
weaklings  all  of  whom  bore  the  great  name  Ramses.  They 
were  far  from  bearing  it  worthily,  and  under  them  the 
waning  power  of  the  Pharaohs  declined  swiftly  to  its  fall 
in  a  few  decades.  We  see  Ramses  IV,  the  son  of  Ramses 
III,  struggling  feebly  with  the  hopeless  situation  which 
he  inherited  about  1167  B.  C.  Immediately  on  his  accession 
the  new  king  prepared  in  his  own  behalf  and  that  of  his 
father,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  documents  which  has 
reached  us  from  the  civilization  of  ancient  Egypt.  In  order 
that  his  father  might  prosper  among  the  gods  and  that  he 
himself  might  gain  the  benefit  of  his  father's  favour  among 
them,  the  young  king  compiled  for  burial  with  the  departed 
Pharaoh  a  list  of  the  deceased's  good  works.  It  contained 
an  enormous  inventory  of  Ramses  Ill's  gifts  to  the  three 
chief  divinities  of  the  nation;  Amon  of  Thebes,  Re  of  Heli- 
opolis  and  Ptah  of  Memphis,  as  well  as  those  also  to  the 
minor  gods,  in  so  far  as  the  data  could  be  obtained;  be- 
sides a  statement  of  his  achievements  in  war  and  of  his 
benefactions  toward  the  people  of  his  empire.  All  this 
recorded  on  papyrus  formed  a  huge  roll  one  hundred  and 
thirty  feet  long  containing  one  hundred  and  seventeen  col- 
umns about  twelve  inches  high.  It  is  now  called  Papyrus 
Harris,  and  is  the  largest  document  which  has  descended  to 
us  from  the  early  orient.1  As  the  gifts  enumerated  therein 
are  largely  the  long  inherited  estates  of  the  gods  merely 
confirmed  by  Ramses  III  at  his  accession,  this  unique 
document  enables  us  to  determine  the  proportion  of  the 
wealth  of  ancient  Egypt  held  by  the  temples,  as  the  reader 

» I,  IV,  151-412. 

505 


506 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


has  already  noticed  in  the  preceding  chapter.  Accompanied 
by  this  extraordinary  statement  of  his  benefactions  toward 
gods  and  men,  Ramses  III  was  laid  in  his  tomb,  in  the 
lonely  Valley  of  the  Kings.  In  its  efficacy  in  securing  him 
unlimited  favour  with  the  gods  there  could  be  no  doubt ;  and 
it  contained  so  many  prayers  placed  in  the  mouth  of  Ramses 
III  on  behalf  of  his  son  and  successor  that  the  gods,  unable 
to  resist  the  appeals  of  the  favourite  to  whom  they  owed  so 
much,  would  certainly  grant  his  son  a  long  reign.  Indeed 
it  is  clear  that  this  motive  was  powerfully  operative  in  the 
production  of  the  document.  In  this  decadent  age  the 
Pharaoh  was  more  dependent  upon  such  means  for  the 
maintenance  of  his  power  than  upon  his  own  strong  arm, 
and  the  huge  papyrus  thus  becomes  a  significant  sign  of  the 
times.  At  Abydos  Ramses  IV  has  left  a  unique  prayer  to 
Osiris,  having  the  same  practical  purpose  in  view,— a 
prayer  which  he  placed  there  in  his  fourth  year:  ' 'Thou 
shalt  double  for  me  the  long  life,  the  prolonged  reign  of 
king  Ramses  II,  the  great  god;  for  more  are  the  mighty 
deeds  and  the  benefactions  which  I  do  for  thy  house,  in  order 
to  supply  thy  divine  offerings,  in  order  to  seek  every  excel- 
lent thing,  every  sort  of  benefaction,  to  do  them  for  thy 
sanctuary  daily,  during  these  four  years,  [more  are  they] 
than  those  things  which  king  Ramses  II,  the  great  god,  did 
for  thee  in  his  sixty  seven  years. ' ' 1  With  fair  promises  of 
a  long  reign  the  insatiable  priesthoods  were  extorting  from 
the  impotent  Pharaoh  all  they  demanded,  while  he  was 
satisfied  with  the  assured  favour  of  the  gods.  The  sources 
of  that  virile  political  life  that  had  sprung  up  with  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the  Hyksos  were  now  exhausted.  The  vigourous 
grasp  of  affairs  which  had  once  enabled  the  Pharaoh  to 
manipulate  with  ease  the  difficult  problems  of  the  dominant 
oriental  state  had  now  given  way  to  an  excessive  devotion 
to  religious  works  and  superstitious  belief  in  their  effective- 
ness, which  were  rapidly  absorbing  every  function  of  the 
state.   Indeed,  as  we  have  before  indicated,  the  state  was 

»  IV,  471. 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  EMPIRE 


507 


rapidly  moving  toward  a  condition  in  which  its  chief  func- 
tion should  be  religious  and  sacerdotal,  and  the  assumption 
of  royal  power  by  the  High  Priest  of  Amon  but  a  very 
natural  and  easy  transition. 

Naturally  the  only  work  of  Ramses  IV,  of  which  we 
know,  is  an  enterprise  for  the  benefit  of  the  gods.  Early  in 
his  second  year  he  went  out  in  person  to  the  quarries  of  the 
Wadi  Hammamat,  five  days  from  the  Nile,  to  look  for  stone 
for  his  temple  buildings,  and  he  then  followed  this  journey 
of  inspection  by  a  great  expedition  of  over  nine  thousand 
men,  which  reached  the  quarries  nearly  two  years  later. 
Although  maintained  by  a  long  train  of  pack-bearers  and 
ten  carts,  each  drawn  by  six  yoke  of  oxen,  yet  no  less  than 
nine  hundred  of  the  expedition  perished  in  the  heat  and 
exposure,  being  about  ten  percent  of  its  people.1  The  desti- 
nation of  the  materials  secured  at  so  great  cost  is  uncertain ; 
the  only  surviving  building  of  any  extent  erected  by  Ramses 
IV  is,  the  continuation  of  the  rear  chambers  and  the  small 
hypostyle  of  the  Khonsu  temple  at  Thebes  already  begun 
by  his  father.2  After  an  inglorious  reign  of  six  years  he 
was  succeeded  in  1161  B.  C.  by  the  fifth  Ramses,  probably 
his  son.  The  exploitation  of  the  mines  of  Sinai  now  ceased, 
and  the  last  Pharaonic  name  found  there  is  that  of  Ramses 
IV.  In  quick  succession  these  feeble  Ramessids  now  fol- 
lowed each  other ;  after  a  few  years  a  collateral  line  of  the 
family  gained  the  throne  in  the  person  of  a  usurper,  prob- 
ably a  grandson  of  Ramses  III,  who  became  Ramses  VI, 
having  succeeded  in  supplanting  the  son  of  Ramses  V.  The 
seventh  and  eighth  Ramses  quickly  followed.  They  all  ex- 
cavated tombs  in  the  Valley  of  the  Kings,  but  we  know 
nothing  of  their  deeds.3  Now  and  again  the  obscurity 
lifts,  and  we  catch  fleeting  glimpses  of  a  great  state  totter- 
ing to  its  fall.  Under  Ramses  VI,  nevertheless,  the  tomb  of 
Penno,  one  of  his  deputies  at  Ibrim,  in  Nubia,  shows  us  a 
picture  of  peaceful  and  prosperous  administration  there 
under  Egyptian  officials  who  have  now  replaced  the  native 

i  IV,  457-468.  2  iv,  472.  » IV,  473  ff. 


508 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


chief,  the  ruler  of  this  locality  at  the  close  of  the  Eighteenth 
Dynasty.  Penno's  family  and  relatives  are  found  hold- 
ing the  important  offices  of  the  region,  and  it  is  evident 
that  Egyptian  families  have  now  migrated  to  Nubia  and 
more  fully  Egyptianized  the  country  than  ever.  Penno 
himself  is  sufficiently  wealthy  to  erect  a  statue  of  Ramses 
VI  in  the  temple  at  Derr,  built  by  Ramses  II,  and  to  endow 
it  with  the  income  from  six  parcels  of  land;  whereupon 
the  Pharaoh  honours  him  with  a  gift  of  two  vessels  of  silver, 
a  distinction  which  the  grateful  Penno  does  not  fail  to  re- 
cord in  his  tomb.1 

From  the  close  of  Ramses  Ill's  reign  to  the  first  years 
of  Ramses  IX,  only  some  twenty  five  or  thirty  years  elapsed, 
and  the  same  High  Priest  at  El  Kab  who  assisted  in  the 
celebration  of  Ramses  Ill's  jubilee  was  still  in  office  under 
Ramses  IX.2  Likewise  the  High  Priest  of  Amon  at  Thebes 
under  Ramses  IX,  Amenhotep,  was  the  son  of  the  high 
priest  Ramsesnakht,  who  held  the  office  under  Ramses  III 
and  IV.3  The  high  priesthood  of  Amon  which  had  at  least 
once  descended  from  father  to  son  in  the  Nineteenth 
Dynasty  had  thus  become  permanently  hereditary,  and 
while  it  was  passing  from  the  hands  of  Ramsesnakht  to 
his  son  Amenhotep,  with  a  single  uninterrupted  transmis- 
sion of  authority,  six  feeble  Ramessids  had  succeeded 
each  other,  with  ever  lessening  power  and  prestige,  as  each 
struggled  for  a  brief  time  to  maintain  himself  upon*  a 
precarious  throne.  Meanwhile  Amenhotep,  the  High  Priest 
of  Amon,  flourished.  He  sumptuously  restored  the  refec- 
tory and  kitchen  of  the  priests  in  the  temple  of  his  god  at 
Karnak4  built  800  years  before  by  Sesostris  I.  We  see 
the  -crafty  priest  manipulating  the  pliant  Pharaoh  as  he 
pleases,  and  obtaining  every  honour  at  his  hands.  In  his 
tenth  year  Ramses  IX  summoned  Amenhotep  to  the  great 
forecourt  of  the  Amon-temple,  where  in  the  presence  of  the 
High  Priest's  political  associates  and  supporters,  the  king 
presented  him  with  a  gorgeous  array  of  gold  and  silver 

»  IV,  474-483.  *  IV,  414-15.  » IV,  486  ff  •  IV,  488  ff. 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  EMPIRE 


509 


vessels,  with  costly  decorations,  and  precious  ointments. 
The  days  when  such  distinctions  were  the  reward  of  valour 
on  the  battle  fields  of  Syria  are  long  passed;  and  skill  in 
priest-craft  is  the  surest  guarantee  of  preferment.  As  the 
king  delivered  the  rich  gifts  to  the  High  Priest  he  accom- 
panied them  with  words  of  praise  such  that  one  is  in  doubt 
whether  they  are  delivered  by  the  soverign  to  the  subject 
or  by  the  subject  to  his  lord.  At  the  same  time  he  informs 
Amenhotep  that  certain  revenues  formerly  paid  to  the 
Pharaoh  shall  now  be  rendered  to  the  treasury  of  Anion, 
and  although  the  king's  words  are  not  entirely  clear  it 
would  seem  that  all  revenues  levied  by  the  king's  treasury 
but  later  intended  for  the  treasury  of  the  god,  shall  now  be 
collected  directly  by  the  scribes  of  the  temple,  thus  putting 
the  temple  to  a  certain  extent  in  the  place  of  the  state.  Ail 
these  honours  were  twice  recorded  by  Amenhotep,  together 
with  a  record  of  his  buildings  on  the  walls  of  the  Karnak 
temple.1  Both  the  records  of  his  gifts  and  honours  are  ac- 
companied each  by  a  large  relief  (Fig.  177)  showing  Amen- 
hotep receiving  his  gifts  from  the  king,  and  depicting  his 
figure  in  the  same  heroic  stature  as  that  of  the  king,— an 
unprecedented  liberty,  to  which  no  official  had  ever  before 
in  the  history  of  Egypt  dared  to  presume.  In  all  such 
scenes  from  time  immemorial  the  official  appearing  before 
the  king  had  been  represented  as  a  pigmy  before  the  tower- 
ing figure  of  the  Pharaoh ;  but  the  High  Priest  of  Amon  was 
now  rapidly  growing  to  measure  his  stature  with  that  of 
the  Pharaoh  himself,  both  on  the  temple  wall  and  in  the 
affairs  of  government.  He  had  a  body  of  temple  troops  at 
his  command,  and  as  he  gathered  the  sinews  of  the  state 
into  his  fingers,  gradually  gaining  control  of  the  treasury, 
as  we  have  seen,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  measure  his  strength 
with  the  Pharaoh.  Xaturally  no  records  of  such  struggles, 
of  the  daily  friction  which  must  have  existed  between  them, 
have  survived;  but  a  woman  giving  testimony  in  a  court 
during  the  reign  of  Ramses  IX  dated  a  theft  in  her  father's 

» IV,  486-498. 


510 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


house  by  telling  the  court  that  it  happened  ' 4  when  the  revolt 
of  the  High  Priest  of  Anion  took  place  Vn 

The  state  of  disorganization  and  helplessness  which  was 
gradually  evolving  is  revealed  to  us  in  a  chapter  from  the 
government  of  the  Theban  necropolis,  preserved  in  certain 
legal  archives2  of  Ramses  IX 's  reign.  Thebes  was  now 
rapidly  declining ;  it  had  been  forsaken  as  a  royal  residence 
by  the  Pharaohs  two  hundred  years  before,  but  it  continued 
to  be  the  burial  place  of  all  the  royal  dead.  There  had  thus 
been  gathered  in  its  necropolis  a  great  mass  of  wealth  in 
the  form  of  splendid  regalia  adorning  the  royal  bodies.  In 
the  lonely  valley  behind  the  western  plain,  deep  in  the 
heart  of  the  cliffs,  slept  the  great  emperors,  decked  in  all 
the  magnificence  which  the  wealth  of  Asia  had  brought 
them;  and  now  again,  as  at  the  close  of  the  Eighteenth 
Dynasty,  their  degenerate  descendants,  far  from  maintain- 
ing the  empire  which  they  had  once  won,  were  not  even  able 
to  protect  their  bodies  from  destruction.  In  the  sixteenth 
year  of  Ramses  IX 's  reign  the  royal  tombs  of  the  plain 
before  the  western  cliffs  were  found  to  have  been  attacked; 
one  of  them,  that  of  Sebekemsaf  ,3  of  the  Thirteenth  Dynasty, 
had  been  robbed  of  all  its  mortuary  furniture  and  his  royal 
body  and  that  of  his  queen  violated  for  the  sake  of  their 
costly  ornaments.  Although  the  authors  of  this  deed  were 
captured  and  prosecuted,  the  investigation  shows  sinister 
traces  that  the  officials  engaged  in  it  were  not  altogether  dis- 
interested. Three  years  later,  when  Ramses  IX  had  made 
his  son,  Ramses  X,  coregent  with  himself,  six  men  were  con- 
victed of  robbing  the  tombs  of  Seti  I  and  Ramses  II,  show- 
ing that  the  emboldened  robbers  had  now  left  the  plain  and 
entered  the  cliff  tombs  of  the  valley  behind.  Ramses  II, 
who  had  himself  despoiled  the  pyramid  of  Sesostris  II  at 
Illahun,  was  now  receiving  similar  treatment  at  the  hands 
of  his  descendants.  The  tomb  of  one  of  Seti  I's  queens 
followed  next,  and  then  that  of  the  great  Amenhotep  III. 
Within  a  generation,  as  the  work  of  plunder  continued,  all 

i  IV,  486.         2  IV,  499-556.        »  See  Thieves'  Confession,  above,  p.  213. 


They  are  records  of  the  removals  of  the  body,  Jill  its 
final  deposit  in  the  Der  el-Bahri  cache  (Fig.  179) 
under  the  priest-kings  of  the  Twenty-first  Dynasty. 


Shaft  where  royal  bodies  were  concealed  is  seen  as  dark 
point  at  top  of  path  leading  up  beyond  the  donkeys. 
See  p.  525. 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  EMPIRE 


511 


the  bodies  of  Egypt's  kings  and  emperors  buried  at  Thebes 
were  despoiled,  and  of  the  whole  line  of  Pharaohs  from  the 
beginning  of  the  Eighteenth  to  the  end  of  the  Twentieth 
Dynasty,  only  one  body,  that  of  Amenhotep  II,  has  been 
found  still  lying  in  its  sarcophagus ;  although  it  had  by  no 
means  escaped  spoliation.  Thus  while  the  tombs  of  the 
Egyptian  emperors  at  Thebes  were  being  ransacked  and 
their  bodies  rifled  and  dishonoured,  the  empire  which  they 
conquered  was  crumbling  to  ruin. 

While  we  can  find  nothing  of  the  reign  of  Ramses  X  to 
record,  beyond  the  rifling  of  the  royal  tombs,  and  our 
knowledge  of  his  successor,  the  eleventh  of  the  name,  is 
still  more  meagre,  at  the  accession  of  Ramses  XII  we  are 
able  to  discern  the  culmination  of  the  tendencies  which  we 
have  been  endeavouring  to  trace.  Before  he  had  been  reign- 
ing five  years  a  local  noble  at  Tanis  named  Nesubenebded, 
the  Smendes  of  the  Greeks,  had  absorbed  the  entire  Delta 
and  made  himself  king  of  the  North.1  It  was  such  an  enter- 
prise as  the  unnamed  vizier  had  attempted  at  Athribis  in 
the  time  of  Ramses  III,2  who  was  too  able  and  energetic  for 
the  audacious  noble  to  succeed.  But  no  longer  commanding 
the  undivided  resources  of  Upper  Egypt,  which  he  might 
otherwise  have  employed  against  Nesubenebded,  there  was 
now  nothing  for  the  impotent  Pharaoh  to  do  but  retire  to 
Thebes,— if  this  transfer  had  not  indeed  already  occurred 
before  this,— where  he  still  maintained  his  precarious  throne. 
Thebes  was  thus  cut  off  from  the  sea  and  the  commerce  of 
Asia  and  Europe  by  a  hostile  kingdom  in  the  Delta,  and  its 
wealth  and  power  still  more  rapidly  declined.  The  High 
Priest  of  Amon  was  now  virtually  at  the  head  of  a  Theban 
principality,  which  we  shall  see  becoming  gradually  more 
and  more  a  distinct  political  unit.  Together  with  this 
powerful  priestly  rival,  the  Pharaoh  continued  to  hold 
Nubia. 

The  swift  decline  of  the  Ramessids  was  quickly  noticed 

i  IV,  557,  581.  *  See  above,  pp.  497-98. 


512 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


and  understood  in  Syria  long  before  the  revolution  which 
resulted  in  the  independence  of  the  Delta.  The  Thekel 
and  Peleset-Philistines,  whose  invasion  Ramses  III  had  for 
a  time  halted,  as  we  have  before  stated,  had  continued  to 
arrive  in  Syria.  They  had  moved  gradually  southward, 
pushing  before  them  the  Amorites  and  scattered  remnants 
of  the  Hittites,  who  were  thus  forced  to  enter  Palestine, 
where  they  were  found  later  by  the  Hebrews.  Seventy  five 
years  after  Ramses  III  had  beaten  them  into  submission, 
the  Thekel  were  already  established  as  an  independent  king 
dom  at  Dor,  just  south  of  the  seaward  end  of  Carmel.1  As 
we  do  not  find  them  mentioned  in  the  surviving  records  of 
the  Hebrews,  they  must  have  merged  into  the  larger  mass 
of  the  Philistines,  whose  cities  gradually  extended  prob- 
ably from  Beth-Shean  in  the  Jordan  valley  westward  and 
southward,  through  the  plain  of  Jezreel  or  Megiddo  to  the 
southern  sea-plain,  cutting  off  the  northern  tribes  of  Israel 
from  their  kinsmen  in  the  south.  Their  pottery,  as  found 
at  Lachish  and  Gezer  in  southern  Palestine,  is  Cretan,  con- 
firming the  Hebrew  tradition  that  the  Philistines  were 
strangers  who  wandered  in  from  Crete  (Caphtor).2  Con- 
tinually replenished  with  new  arrivals  by  sea,  they  threat- 
ened to  crush  Israel,  as  they  had  done  the  kingdom  of  Amor, 
before  the  Hebrew  tribal  leaders  should  have  welded  the  Pal- 
estinian Semites  into  a  nation.  With  their  extreme  southern 
frontier  at  the  very  gates  of  Egypt,  these  hardy  and  warlike 
wanderers  from  the  far  north  could  not  have  paid  tribute 
to  the  Pharaoh  very  long  after  the  death  of  Ramses  III 
(1167  B.  C).  In  the  reign  of  Ramses  IX  (1142-1123  B. 
C),  or  about  that  time,  a  body  of  Egyptian  envoys  were 
detained  at  Byblos  by  the  local  dynast  for  seventeen  years, 
and  unable  to  return,  they  at  last  died  there.3  The  Syrian 
princes,  among  whom  Ramses  III  had  built  a  temple  to 
Amon,  to  which  they  brought  their  yearly  tribute,  were  thus 
indifferent  to  the  power  of  Egypt  within  twenty  or  twenty 
five  years  of  his  death. 

iIV,  558.  2  Jer.  47:  4;  Amos  9:  7.  8 IV,  585. 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  EMPIRE 


513 


A  few  years  later,  under  Ramses  XII,  these  same  eondi- 
cions  in  Syria  are  vividly  portrayed  in  the  report  of  an 
Egyptian  envoy  thither.  In  response  to  an  oracle,  Wena- 
mon,  the  envoy  in  question,  was  dispatched  to  Byblos,  at 
the  foot  of  Lebanon,  to  procure  cedar  for  the  sacred  barge 
of  Anion.  Hrihor,  the  High  Priest  of  Anion,  was  able  to 
give  him  only  a  pitiful  sum  in  gold  and  silver,  and  there- 
fore sent  with  him  an  image  of  Anion,  called  "  Amon-of-the- 
Way,"  who  was  able  to  bestow  "life  and  health,"  hoping 
thus  to  impress  the  prince  of  Byblos  and  compensate  for  the 
lack  of  liberal  payment.  As  TVenamon  was  obliged  to  pass 
through  the  territory  of  Xesubenebded,  who  now  ruled  the 
Delta,  Hrihor  supplied  him  with  letters  to  the  Delta  prince, 
and  in  this  way  secured  for  him  passage  in  a  ship  com- 
manded by  a  Syrian  captain.  Xothing  more  eloquently  por- 
trays the  decadent  condition  of  Egypt  than  the  humiliating 
state  of  this  unhappy  envoy,  dispatched  without  ships,  with 
no  credentials,  with  but  a  beggarly  pittance  to  offer  for  the 
timber  desired,  and  only  the  memory  of  Egypt's  former 
greatness  with  which  to  impress  the  prince  of  Byblos. 
Stopping  at  Dor  on  the  voyage  out,  Wenamon  was  robbed 
of  the  little  money  he  had,  and  was  unable  to  secure  any 
satisfaction  from  the  Thekel  prince  of  that  city.  After 
waiting  in  despair  for  nine  days,  he  departed  for  Byblos 
by  way  of  Tyre,  having  on  the  way  somehow  succeeded  in 
seizing  from  certain  Thekel  people  a  bag  of  silver  as  security 
for  his  loss  at  Dor.  He  finally  arrived  in  safety  at  Byblos, 
where  Zakar-Baal,  the  prince  of  the  city,  would  not  even 
receive  him,  but  ordered  him  to  leave.  Such  was  the  state 
of  an  Egyptian  envoy  in  Phoenicia,  within  fifty  or  sixty 
years  of  the  death  of  Ramses  III.  Finally,  as  the  despairing 
Wenamon  was  about  to  take  passage  back  to  Egypt,  one  of 
the  noble  youths  in  attendance  upon  Zakar-Baal  was  seized 
with  a  divine  frenzy,  and  in  prophetic  ecstasy  demanded  that 
Wenamon  be  summoned,  honourably  treated  and  dismissed. 
This  earliest  known  example  of  Old  Testament  prophecy  in 

33 


514 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


its  earlier  form  thus  secured  for  Wenamon  an  interview  with 
Zakar-Baal,  which  the  envoy  himself  thus  relates : 

"When  morning  came  he  sent  and  had  me  brought  up, 
when  the  divine  offering  occurred  in  the  fortress  wherein 
he  was,  on  the  shore  of  the  sea.  I  found  him  sitting  in  his 
upper  chamber,  leaning  his  back  against  a  window,  while 
the  waves  of  the  great  Syrian  sea  were  beating  against  the 
shore  behind  him.  I  said  to  him,  -Kindness  of  Amon!' 
He  said  to  me:  'How  long  is  it  until  this  day,  since  thou 
earnest  away  from  the  abode  of  Amon?'  I  said,  'Five 
months  and  one  day  until  now.'  He  said  to  me,  'Behold 
if  thou  art  true,  where  is  the  writing  of  Amon,  which  is  in 
thy  hand!  Where  is  the  letter  of  the  High  Priest  of  Amon, 
which  is  in  thy  hand?'  I  said  to  him,  'I  gave  them  to 
Nesubenebded.  .  .  .  '  Then  he  was  very  wroth,  and  he 
said  to  me,  'Now  behold  the  writing  and  the  letter  are  not 
m  thy  hand!  Where  is  the  ship  of  cedar  which  Nesube- 
nebded gave  thee?  Where  is  the  Syrian  crew?  He  would 
not  deliver  thy  business  to  this  ship-captain,  to  have  thee 
killed!  That  they  might  cast  thee  into  the  sea!  From 
whom  would  they  have  sought  the  god  [Amon-of-the-Way] 
then?  And  thee!  From  whom  would  they  have  sought 
thee  then?'  So  spake  he  to  me.  I  said  to  him,  'There  are 
indeed  Egyptian  ships  and  Egyptian  crews  which  sail  under 
Nesubenebded,  but  he  hath  no  Syrian  crews.'  He  said  to 
me,  'There  are  surely  twenty  ships  here  in  my  harbour 
which  are  in  connection  with  Nesubenebded;  and  at  this 
Sidon,  whither  thou  also  wouldst  go,  there  are  indeed  10,000 
ships  also,  which  are  in  connection  with  Berket-El  [probably 
a  merchant  of  Tanis],  and  sail  to  his  house.'  Then  I  was 
silent  in  that  great  hour.  He  answered  and  said  to  me,  '  On 
what  business  hast  thou  come  hither?'  I  said  to  him,  'I 
have  come  after  the  timber  for  the  great  and  august  barge 
of  Amon-Re,  king  of  gods.  Thy  father  did  it,  and  thou  wilt 
also  do  it.'  So  spake  I  to  him.  He  said  to  me,  'They  did 
it  truly.  If  thou  give  me  something  for  doing  it  I  will  do 
it.    Indeed  my  agents  transacted  the  business :  the  Pharaoh 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  EMPIRE 


515 


sent  six  ships  laden  with  the  products  of  Egypt,  and  they 
were  unloaded  into  their  store-houses.  And  thou  also  shalt 
bring  something  for  me.'  He  had  the  journal  of  his  fathers 
brought  in,  and  he  had  them  read  it  before  me.  They 
found  one  thousand  deben  [about  244  Troy  pounds]  of  every 
kind  of  silver,  which  was  in  his  book.  He  said  to  me,  'If 
the  ruler  of  Egypt  were  the  owner  of  my  property  and  I 
were  also  his  servant,  he  would  not  send  silver  and  gold, 
saying,  "Do  the  commandment  of  Amon."  It  was  not  the 
payment  of  tribute  which  they  exacted  of  my  father.  As 
for  me,  I  am  myself  neither  thy  servant,  nor  am  I  the  ser- 
vant of  him  who  sent  thee.  If  I  cry  out  to  the  Lebanon,  the 
heavens  open  and  the  logs  lie  here  upon  the  shore  of  the  sea. 
Give  me  the  sails  which  thou  hast  certainly  brought  to  pro- 
pel thy  ships  which  bear  thy  logs  to  Egypt!  Give  me  the 
cordage  [which  thou  hast  of  course  brought  to  bind],  the 
trees  which  I  fell,  in  order  to  make  them  fast  for  thee! 
.[What  then  if  a  storm  comes  up]  and  they  break  and  thou 
die  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  when  Amon  thunders  in  heaven. 
.  .  .  For  [I  admit  that]  Amon  equips  all  lands;  he  equips 
them,  having  first  equipped  the  land  of  Egypt,  whence  thou 
comest.  For  artisanship  came  forth  from  it  to  reach  my 
place  of  abode ;  and  teaching  came  forth  from  it  to  reach  my 
place  of  abode.  What  then  are  these  miserable  journeys 
which  they  have  had  thee  make ! '  I  said  to  him, '  O  guilty  one ! 
They  are  no  miserable  journeys  on  which  I  am.  There  is 
no  ship  upon  the  river  which  Amon  does  not  own.  For  his 
is  the  sea,  and  his  is  Lebanon,  of  which  thou  sayest,  "It  is 
mine."  It  grows  for  the  divine  barge  of  Amon,  the  lord 
of  every  ship.  Yea,  so  spake  Amon-Re,  king  of  gods,  saying 
to  Hrihor,  my  lord,  "Send  me,"  and  he  made  me  go, bearing 
this  great  god  [Amon-of-the-Way].  But  behold,  thou  hast 
let  this  great  god  wait  twenty  nine  days,  when  he  had  landed 
in  thy  harbour,  although  thou  didst  certainly  know  that  he 
was  here.  He  is  indeed  still  what  he  once  was,  while  thou 
standest  and  bargainest  for  the  Lebanon  with  Amon,  its 
lord.    As  for  what  thou  sayest,  that  the  former  kings  sent 


516 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


silver  and  gold ;  if  they  had  given  life  and  health,  they  would 
not  have  sent  the  valuables ;  but  they  sent  the  valuables  to 
thy  fathers  instead  of  life  and  health.  Now  as  for  Amon-Re, 
king  of  gods,  he  is  the  lord  of  life  and  health;  and  he  was 
the  lord  of  thy  fathers,  who  spent  their  lives  offering  to 
Anion.  And  thou  also  art  the  servant  of  Amon.  If  thou 
sayest  to  Amon,  "I  will  do  it!  I  will  do  it!"  and  thou  exe- 
cutest  his  command,  thou  shalt  live,  and  thou  shalt  be  pros- 
perous, and  thou  shalt  be  healthy,  and  thou  shalt  be  pleasant 
to  thy  whole  land  and  thy  people.  Wish  not  for  thyself  a 
thing  belonging  to  Amon-Re,  king  of  gods.  Yea,  the  lion 
loveth  his  own.  Let  my  scribe  be  brought  to  me,  that  I 
may  send  him  to  Nesubenebded  and  Tentamon  [his  wife], 
the  rulers,  whom  Amon  hath  given  to  the  North  of  his  land, 
and  they  will  send  all  that  of  which  I  shall  write  to  them, 
saying, '  4  Let  it  be  brought, ' '  until  I  return  to  the  South  and 
send  to  thee  all,  all  thy  trifles  again  [the  balance  still  due] . ' 
So  spake  I  to  him. ' ' 

The  observing  reader  will  have  drawn  many  conclusions 
from  this  remarkable  interview.  The  Phoenician  prince 
quite  readily  admits  the  debt  of  culture  which  his  land  owes 
Egypt  as  a  source  of  civilization,  but  emphatically  repu- 
diates all  political  responsibility  to  the  ruler  of  Egypt,  whom 
he  never  calls  Pharaoh,  except  in  referring  to  a  former  sov- 
ereign. The  situation  is  clear.  A  burst  of  military  enthu- 
siasm and  a  line  of  able  rulers  had  enabled  Egypt  to  assume 
for  several  centuries  an  imperial  position,  which  her  unwar- 
like  people  were  not  by  nature  adapted  to  occupy ;  and  their 
impotent  descendants,  no  longer  equal  to  their  imperial  role, 
were  now  appealing  to  the  days  of  splendour  with  an  almost 
pathetic  futility.  It  is  characteristic  of  the  time  that  this 
appeal  should  assume  a  religious  or  even  theological  form, 
as  Wenamon  boldly  proclaims  Amon's  dominion  over  Leb- 
anon, where  the  Phoenician  princes  had,  only  two  generations 
before,  worshipped  and  paid  tribute  at  the  temple  of  Amon, 
erected  by  Ramses  III.  With  oracles  and  an  image  of  the 
god  that  conferred  ' ' life  and  health"  the  Egyptian  envoy 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  EMPIRE 


517 


sought  to  make  his  bargain  with  the  contemptuous  Phoe- 
nician for  timber  which  a  Thutmose  III  or  a  Seti  I  had 
demanded  with  his  legions  behind  him.  We  can  hardly 
wonder  that  the  image  of  "  Amon-of-the-Way "  failed  to 
impress  Zakar-Baal,  as. the  Pharaoh's  armies  had  impressed 
his  ancestors ;  and  it  was  only  when  Wenamon 's  messenger 
to  Egypt  returned  with  a  few  vessels  of  silver  and  gold, 
some  fine  linen,  papyrus  rolls,  ox-hides,  coils  of  cordage,  and 
the  like,  that  the  Phoenician  ruler  ordered  his  men  to  cut 
the  desired  logs;  although  he  had  sent  some  of  the  heavier 
timbers  for  the  hull  of  the  barge  in  advance,  as  an  evidence 
of  his  good  faith.  As  Wenamon  was  about  to  depart  with 
his  timber,  some  eight  months  after  he  had  left  Thebes, 
Zakar-Baal  tells  him  with  grim  humour  of  the  fate  of  the 
Egyptian  envoys  of  a  former  reign  who  had  been  detained 
seventeen  years  and  had  ultimately  died  in  Byblos.  He 
even  offers  to  have  Wenamon  taken  and  shown  their  tombs. 
This  privilege  the  frightened  envoy  declines,  adding  that 
the  embassy  which  had  been  so  treated  was  one  of  merely 
human  envoys,  while  Zakar-Baal  was  now  honoured  with 
an  unparalleled  distinction  in  receiving  the  god  himself! 
Promising  the  prince  the  payment  of  the  balance  due  him, 
Wenamon  proceeded  to  embark,  when  he  discovered  in  the 
offing  a  fleet  of  eleven  Thekel  ships,  coming  with  instruc- 
tions to  arrest  him,  doubtless  for  the  seizure  of  the  silver 
which  he  had  taken  from  the  Thekel  on  the  voyage  from 
Tyre  to  Byblos.  The  unhappy  Wenamon  now  lost  all  hope, 
and  throwing  himself  down  upon  the  shore  burst  into  weep- 
ing. Even  Zakar-Baal  was  touched  by  his  misery  and  sent 
to  him  a  reassuring  message,  with  food  and  wine  and  an 
Egyptian  chanteuse.  The  next  day  the  prince  succeeded 
in  holding  the  Thekel  of  the  fleet  to  an  interview,  while 
Wenamon  embarked  and  escaped.  But  a  tempest  drove  him 
far  out  of  his  course  and  cast  him  upon  the  coast  of  Cyprus, 
where  the  populace  was  about  to  slay  him  at  the  palace  of 
Hatiba,  the  queen.  Her  he  fortunately  intercepted  as  she 
was  passing  from  one  palace  to  another.  Among  her  follow- 


518 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


ing,  Wenamon  by  inquiry  found  a  Cyprian  who  spoke  Egyp- 
tian, and  he  bade  this  new-found  interpreter  speak  to  the 
queen  for  him.  "Say  to  my  mistress:  'I  have  heard  as  far 
as  Thebes,  the  abode  of  Amon,  that  in  every  city  injustice 
is  done;  but  that  justice  is  done  in  the  land  of  Alasa 
[Cyprus].  But,  lo,  injustice  is  done  every  day  here.'  " 
She  said,  "Indeed!  What  is  this  that  thou  sayest?"  I  said 
to  her,  "If  the  sea  raged  and  the  wind  drove  me  to  the  land 
where  I  am,  thou  wilt  not  let  them  take  advantage  of  me 
to  slay  me,  I  being  a  messenger  of  Amon.  I  am  one  for 
whom  they  will  seek  unceasingly.  As  for  the  crew  of  the 
prince  of  Byblos  whom  they  sought  to  kill,  their  lord  will 
surely  find  ten  crews  of  thine,  and  he  will  slay  them  on  his 
part. ' 7  Wenamon 's  crew  was  then  summoned,  and  he  him- 
self bidden  to  lie  down  and  sleep.  At  this  point  his  report 
breaks  off,  and  the  conclusion  is  lost;  but  here  again,  in 
Cyprus,  whose  king,  as  practically  his  vassal,  the  Pharaoh 
had  been  wont  to  call  to  account  for  piracy  in  the  old  days 
of  splendour,  we  find  the  representative  of  Egypt  barely  able 
to  save  his  life.  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  his  reminder  of 
unpleasant  consequences  makes  no  reference  to  the  Pharaoh, 
while  it  places  fully  as  much  emphasis  upon  the  vengeance 
of  the  prince  of  Byblos  as  upon  that  of  Egypt ;  this  only  two 
generations  after  a  great  war-fleet  of  Eamses  III  had  de- 
stroyed the  powerful  united  navy  of  his  northern  enemies 
in  these  very  waters.  This  unique  and  instructive  report 
of  Wenamon,1  therefore,  reveals  to  us  the  complete  collapse 
of  Egyptian  prestige  abroad  and  shows  with  what  appalling 
swiftness  the  dominant  state  in  the  Mediterranean  basin  had 
declined  under  the  weak  successors  of  Ramses  III.  When 
Tiglath-pileser  I  appeared  in  the  West  about  1100  B.  C,  a 
Pharaoh,  who  was  probably  Nesubenebded,  feeling  his  ex- 
posed position  in  the  Delta,  deemed  it  wise  to  propitiate  the 
Assyrian  with  a  gift,  and  sent  him  a  crocodile.  Thus  all 
Egyptian  influence  in  Syria  had  utterly  vanished,  while  in 
Palestine  a  fiction  of  traditional  sovereignty,  totally  without 

*iV,  557-591. 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  EMPIRE 


519 


practical  political  significance,  was  maintained  at  the  Phar- 
aoh's court.  In  resumption  of  that  sovereignty  we  shall  see 
future  kings  making  sporadic  campaigns  thither  after  the 
establishment  of  the  Hebrew  monarchy. 

Meanwhile  there  was  but  one  possible  issue  for  the  condi- 
tions at  Thebes.  The  messenger  who  procured  the  timber 
for  the  sacred  barge  of  Amon  was  no  longer  dispatched  by 
the  Pharaoh,  but  as  we  have  seen,  by  the  High  Priest  of 
Amon,  Hrihor.  The  next  year  he  had  gained  sufficient  con- 
trol of  the  royal  necropolis  at  Thebes  to  send  his  people 
thither  to  rewrap  and  properly  reinter  the  bodies  of  Seti  I 
and  Ramses  II,  which  had  been  violated  and  robbed  in  the 
first  year  of  Ramses  X.1  The  temple  of  Khonsu  (Fig.  183), 
left  with  only  the  holy  of  holies  and  the  rear  chambers 
finished  since  the  time  of  Ramses  III,  was  now  completed 
with  a  colonnaded  hall  preceded  by  a  court  and  pylon.  The 
walls  of  these  new  additions  bear  significant  evidence  of  the 
transition  which  was  now  going  on  in  the  Egyptian  state. 
In  the  new  hall  the  official  dedications  on  the  architraves 
are  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  conventional  form,  cus- 
tomary since  the  Old  Kingdom:  "Live  king  Ramses  XII! 
He  made  it  as  his  monument  for  his  father,  'Khonsu  in 
Thebes,  Beautiful  Rest/  making  for  him  [the  hall  called] 
'Wearer  of  Diadems,'  for  the  first  time,  of  fine  white  lime- 
stone, making  splendid  his  temple  as  a  beautiful  monument 
forever,  which  the  Son  of  Re,  Ramses  XII,  made  for  him."2 
But  around  the  base  of  the  walls  are  words  which  have  never 
been  found  in  a  Pharaonic  temple  before;  we  read:  "High 
Priest  of  Amon-Re,  king  of  gods,  commander  in  chief  of  the 
armies  of  the  South  and  North,  the  leader,  Hrihor,  tri- 
umphant; he  made  it  as  his  monument  for  'Khonsu  in 
Thebes,  Beautiful  Rest';  making  for  him  a  temple  for  the 
first  time,  in  the  likeness  of  the  horizon  of  heaven.3  .  .  .  " 
That  the  commander  in  chief  of  the  armies  of  the  South  and 
Xorth  was  the  real  builder  of  the  hall  we  can  hardly  doubt. 
On  either  side  of  the  central  door  which  leads  out  into  the 


■  IV,  592-4. 


2  IV,  602. 


»IV,  609, 


520 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


court,  lying  before  the  hall,  is  a  pair  of  reliefs,  each  showing 
a  festal  procession  of  the  god,  before  whom,  in  the  place  for 
thousands  of  years  occupied  by  the  Pharaoh,  stands  the 
High  Priest  Hrihor,  offering  incense;  while  strangely 
enough,  the  conventional  blessings  regularly  recorded  over 
the  god,  and  supposed  to  be  uttered  by  him  to  the  king,  are 
still  addressed  to  Ramses  XII!1  Like  the  shadowy  caliph, 
whom  the  Egyptian  sultans  brought  from  Bagdad  to  Cairo, 
and  maintained  for  a  time  there,  so  the  unfortunate  Ramses 
XII  had  been  brought  from  his  Delta  residence  to  Thebes, 
that  the  conventionalities  of  the  old  Pharaonic  tradition 
might  still  be  continued  for  a  brief  time.  A  letter  written 
to  his  Nubian  viceroy  in  his  seventeenth  year  shows  that  he 
still  retained  some  voice  there  up  to  that  time  at  least  ;2  but 
the  door  (Fig.  183),  bearing  the  two  reliefs  just  mentioned, 
shows  him  deprived  of  his  authority  there  also,  for  it  bears 
an  inscription  of  Hrihor,  still  dated  under  Ramses  XII  (the 
year  is  unfortunately  broken  out),  in  which  the  High  Priest 
appears  as  "viceroy  of  Kush."3  Already  at  the  close  of 
the  Nineteenth  Dynasty  we  recall  that  Amon  had  gained 
possession  of  the  Nubian  gold-country  ;4  the  High  Priest  has 
now  gone  a  step  further  and  seized  the  whole  of  the  great 
province  of  the  Upper  Nile.  The  same  inscription  calls  him 
also  "overseer  of  the  double  granary,"  who,  as  grain  was 
always  Egypt's  chief  source  of  wealth,  was  the  most  impor- 
tant fiscal  officer  in  the  state,  next  the  chief  treasurer  himself. 
There  is  now  nothing  left  in  the  way  of  authority  and  power 
for  the  High  Priest  to  absorb;  he  is  commander  of  all  the 
armies,  viceroy  of  Kush,  holds  the  treasury  in  his  hands,  and 
executes  the  buildings  of  the  gods.  When  the  fiction  of  the 
last  Ramessid's  official  existence  had  been  maintained  for 
at  least  twenty  seven  years  the  final  assumption  of  the  High 
Priest's  supreme  position  seems  to  have  been  confirmed  by 
an  oracle  of  Khonsu,  followed  by  the  approval  of  Amon, 
It  is  recorded  in  the  above  inscription,  a  document  very  frag- 
mentary and  obscure,  engraved  on  that  same  fatal  door,5 

i  IV,  611.     « IV,  595-600.     3 IV,  615.     *  III,  640.  « IV,  614-618. 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  EMPIRE 


521 


which  in  the  growth  of  the  Khonsu  temple,  as  in  the  history 
of  the  state,  marks  the  final  transition.  For  through  this 
door  the  modern  visitor  passes  from  the  inner  hall  bearing 
the  names  of  both  Hrihor  and  Ramses  XII,  to  the  outer 
court,  built  by  Hrihor,  where  the  shadowy  Pharaoh  vanishes, 
and  the  High  Priest's  name,  preceded  by  the  Pharaonic  titles 
and  enclosed  in  the  royal  cartouche  at  last  appears  alone. 
Henceforth  the  name  ' 'Ramses"  is  no  longer  a  personal 
name,  but  is  worn  as  a  title  designating  a  descendant  of  the 
once  mighty  line. 


CHAPTER  XXV 


PRIESTS  AND  MERCENARIES:    THE  SUPREMACY  OF 
THE  LIBYANS 

The  result  of  the  development  of  Thebes  into  an  inde- 
pendent sacerdotal  principality  was  not  only  the  downfall 
of  the  empire,  but  of  course  also  the  end  of  the  unity  of 
the  kingdom.  From  now  on  the  sacerdotal  princes  of  Thebes, 
the  High  Priests  of  Amon,  will  either  rule  the  country  them- 
selves or  maintain  Theban  independence.  As  they  rarely 
succeeded  in  doing  the  former  the  result  was  constant  dis- 
union and  division,  which  continued  in  more  or  less  pro- 
nounced form  from  the  rise  of  Hrihor  and  Nesubenebded, 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  eleventh  century,  for  four  hundred 
and  fifty  years  or  more.  The  complacent  Hrihor  maintained 
the  fiction  of  a  united  "Two  Lands,"  of  which  he  called  him- 
self the  lord,  as  if  he  really  ruled  them  both.1  With  amaz- 
ing mendacity  he  filled  his  titulary  with  references  to  his 
universal  power,  and  affirmed  that  the  Syrian  princes  bowed 
down  every  day  to  his  might.2  Fortunately  we  are  well 
informed  as  to  the  real  attitude  of  the  Syrian  dynasts  toward 
Hrihor  by  the  experiences  of  the  redoubtable  Wenamon 
at  Dor  and  Byblos.  The  High  Priest's  methods  and  theory 
of  government  were  not  calculated  to  compel  the  respect  of 
the  Syrians.  The  state  which  he  founded  was  a  theocracy, 
pure  and  simple.  As  far  back  as  the  days  of  Thutmose  III 
and  Hatshepsut  there  are  remarkable  examples  of  Anion's 
intervention  in  the  affairs  of  practical  government.  Thut- 
mose III  himself  was  crowned  by  an  oracle  of  the  god ;  Hat- 
shepsut erected  her  obelisks  at  his  behest  and  sent  her  fleet 
to  Punt  in  response  to  his  special  oracular  command.  But 
these  and  other  examples  of  the  god's  intervention  occurred 

s  IV,  620.  2  IV,  623. 

522 


PRIESTS  AND  MERCENARIES:  THE  LIBYANS  523 


on  extraordinary  occasions.  Under  Hrihor's  theocracy  such 
oracles  became  part  of  the  ordinary  machinery  of  govern- 
ment. Whatever  the  High  Priest  wished  legally  to  effect 
could  be  sanctioned  by  special  oracle  of  the  god  at  any  time, 
and  by  prearrangement  the  cultus  image  before  which  the 
High  Priest  made  known  his  desires  invariably  responded 
favourably  by  violent  nodding  of  the  head,  or  even  by 
speech.  All  wills  and  property  conveyances  of  members  of 
the  High  Priest's  family  were  oracles  of  Amon,1  and  civil 
documents  thus  became  divine  decrees.  Banished  political 
exiles  were  recalled  by  oracle  of  the  god,  criminal  cases 
were  tried  before  him,  and  by  his  decision  the  convicted  were 
put  to  death.  In  the  case  of  a  temple  official,  undoubtedly  a 
favourite  of  the  High  Priest,  two  documents  were  placed 
before  the  god,  one  declaring  the  accused  guilty  of  embez- 
zlement of  temple  income,  and  the  other  declaring  him  inno- 
cent. The  god  seized  the  latter  document,  thus  determining 
the  innocence  of  the  accused.2  Priestly  jugglery,  ruling  if 
necessary  in  utter  disregard  of  law  and  justice,  thus  enabled 
the  High  Priest  to  cloak  with  the  divine  sanction  all  that  he 
wished  to  effect. 

Hrihor  must  have  been  an  old  man  at  his  accession  (1090 
B.  C).  He  did  not  long  survive  Ramses  XII,  and  at  his 
death  his  son,  Payonekh,  also  advanced  in  years,  was  unable 
to  maintain  the  independence  of  Thebes  against  Nesube- 
nebded  at  Tanis,  who  extended  his  authority  over  the  whole 
country  for  a  brief  time.  He  is  called  the  first  king  of  the 
Twenty  First  Dynasty  by  Manetho,  who  knows  nothing  of 
the  independence  of  Thebes.3  Payonekh 's  son,  Paynozem 
I,  quickly  succeeded  him,4  and  while  he  was  ruling  at  Thebes 
in  more  or  less  independence,  but  without  royal  titles,  Nesu- 
benebded  was  followed  at  Tanis  by  Pesibkhenno  I,  probably 
his  son.  Although  unable  to  regain  the  royalty  of  his  grand- 
father, Paynozem  I  showed  considerable  energy  in  his  gov- 
ernment of  the  Theb?u  principality.  He  continued  the 
Khonsu  temple,  restored  some  of  the  older  temples,5  and, 

iIV,  795.      2 IV,  670-674.      » IV,  627,  631.      *  IV,  631.      *  IV,  633-5. 


524 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


unable  to  protect  the  royal  bodies  in  the  western  necropolis 
from  further  molestation,  began  the  policy  of  transferring 
them  to  a  tomb  which  might  be  better  guarded,  selecting  for 
this  purpose  the  tomb  of  Seti  I.1  He  now  achieved  a  master 
stroke  of  diplomacy  and  gained  in  marriage  the  daughter 
of  the  Tanite,  Pesibkhenno  I.  Thus  on  the  death  of  the 
latter  (1067  B.  C),  he  obtained  through  his  wife  the  Tanite 
crown  and  the  sovereignty  over  a  united  Egypt.  He  in- 
stalled his  son  as  High  Priest  at  Thebes,  but  both  he  and  a 
second  son  whom  he  appointed  to  the  office  died.  His  third 
son,  Menkheperre,  who  now  obtained  the  high  priesthood, 
appeared  at  Thebes  in  the  twenty  fifth  year  of  his  father, 2 
and  assumed  authority  not  without  suppression  of  some  hos- 
tility. The  political  turmoil  of  the  time  is  evident  in  the 
fact  that  he  was  immediately  obliged  to  appear  before  Amon 
and  secure  an  oracle  approving  of  the  return  of  a  body  of 
political  exiles  who  had  been  banished  to  one  of  the  oases. 
Exactly  who  these  exiles  were  does  not  appear ;  but  we  can 
surmise  that  the  recall  was  effected  to  conciliate  the  Thebans, 
who  now  began  to  show  themselves  as  turbulent  as  they  were 
in  the  days  of  the  revolts,  which  made  Thebes  notorious 
under  the  Ptolemies.3 

Paynozem  I  reigned  some  forty  years  at  Tanis,  and 
although  his  son  Menkheperre  seems  to  have  gained  some 
royal  titles  on  his  father's  death  (1026  B.  C.)4  he  did  not 
succeed  to  the  crown,  which  was  obtained  by  one  Amenem- 
opet,  whose  connection  with  Paynozem  I  is  entirely  prob- 
lematical. Of  the  course  of  events  during  his  long  reign 
of  half  a  century  we  can  now  discern  nothing.  These  Tanite 
kings  were  not  great  builders,  although  Pesibkhenno  I  raised 
a  massive  enclosure  wall  eighty  feet  thick  around  his  temple 
at  Tanis.5  As  they  show  little  initiative  in  other  directions, 
the  century  and  a  half  during  which  they  maintained  them- 
selves was  apparently  one  of  steady  industrial  and  economic 
decline.  We  have  no  data  from  other  periods  to  aid  us  by 
comparison,  but  even  so  it  is  evident  that  the  price  of  land 

i  IV,  642.    2  iv,  650.     3  IV,  650-658.    I IV,  66 L     6  Petrie,  Tanis,  I,  19. 


PRIESTS  AND  MERCENARIES:  THE  LIBYANS  525 


was  very  low.  Ten  "stat"  (about  six  and  three  quarters 
acres)  of  land  at  Abydos  sold  for  one  deben  (a  little  over 
fourteen  hundred  grains)  of  silver  at  this  time.1  While 
Xesubenebded  did  send  a  large  body  of  men  to  Thebes  to 
repair  the  damage  done  by  an  unusually  high  inundation,2 
the  Tanites  as  a  whole  did  nothing  for  the  great  capital  of 
the  empire,  and  its  decline  was  steady  and  rapid.  They 
respected  the  memory  of  their  royal  ancestors  and  vied  with 
the  high  priests  at  Thebes  in  protecting  the  bodies  of  the 
emperors.  During  the  reign  of  Siamon,  Anieneinopet's  suc- 
cessor, the  bodies  of  Ramses  I,  Seti  I  and  Ramses  II  were 
taken  from  the  tomb  of  Seti  I  and  hidden  in  that  of  a 
queen  named  Inhapi.3  But  such  was  the  insecurity  of  the 
times  that  after  a  few  years,  under  Pesibkhenno  II,  the 
last  king  of  the  Tanite  Dynasty,  they  were  hurriedly  re- 
moved to  their  final  hiding  place,  an  old  and  probably  unused 
tomb  of  Amenhotep  I,  near  the  temple  of  Der  el-Bahri  (Fig. 
179).  Here  they  were  concealed  for  the  last  time,  and  as 
the  officials  who  superintended  the  transfer  left  the  place  a 
scribe  hurriedly  wrote  upon  the  coffins  the  record4  of  their 
last  removal  alongside  similar  graffiti  hastily  scrawled  there 
under  similar  circumstances  after  earlier  transfers  begin- 
ning as  far  back  as  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  before  (Fig. 
178).  These  successive  records  on  the  royal  coffins  and 
bodies,  in  which  one  may  trace  their  transfer  from  tomb  to 
tomb  in  the  vain  effort  to  find  a  place  of  safety,  form  per- 
haps the  most  eloquent  testimony  of  the  decadence  of  the 
age.  The  rough  passage  entering  the  cliff  at  the  base  of 
a  shaft  in  which  they  were  now  deposited  was  sealed  for  the 
last  time  a  few  years  later,  early  in  the  Twenty  Second 
Dynasty,  not  long  after  940  B.  C.  Here  the  greatest  kings 
of  Egypt  slept  unmolested  for  nearly  three  thousand  years, 
until  about  1871  or  1872,  when  the  Theban  descendants  of 
those  same  tomb-robbers  whose  prosecution  under  Ramses 
IX  we  can  still  read,  discovered  the  place  and  the  plundering 
of  the  royal  bodies  was  begun  again.    By  methods  not 

1IV,  681.  2 IV.  027  ff.    .  3  TV.  604-7.  4 IV,  091-2. 


526 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


greatly  differing  from  those  employed  under  Ramses  IX  the 
modern  authorities  forced  the  thieves  to  disclose  the  place. 
Thus  nearly  twenty  nine  centuries  after  they  had  been  sealed 
in  their  hiding  place  by  the  ancient  scribes,  and  some  three 
thousand  five  hundred  years  after  the  first  interment  of  the 
earliest  among  them,  the  faces  of  Egypt's  kings  and  emper- 
ors were  disclosed  to  the  modern  world,  and  hence  the  reader 
of  these  pages  is  frequently  able  to  look  upon  the  fleshly 
features  of  the  monarchs  whose  deeds  of  three  millenniums 
ago  he  has  been  reading. 

Abroad,  the  Twenty  First  Dynasty  was  as  feeble  as  its 
predecessors  at  the  close  of  the  Twentieth  had  been.  They 
probably  maintained  Egyptian  power  in  Nubia,  but  in  Syria 
they  were  in  no  better  reputation  than  in  the  days  of  Wena- 
mon's  ill-starred  mission  to  the  prince  of  Byblos.  A  nominal 
suzerainty  over  Palestine  was  probably  one  of  the  court 
fictions  in  continuance  of  a  century-long  tradition.  During 
this  period  of  Egypt's  total  eclipse  the  tribes  of  Israel  thus 
gained  the  opportunity  to  consolidate  their  national  organi- 
zation and  under  Saul  and  David  they  gradually  gained 
the  upper  hand  against  the  Philistines.  Whether  the  Egyp- 
tians had  a  hand  in  these  events,  thus  enabling  the  Israelites 
to  subdue  this  hardy  people  of  the  coast,  it  is  as  yet  impos- 
sible to  determine  as  we  have  no  monuments  which  throw 
any  light  upon  Egypt's  connection  with  Asiatic  politics  in 
this  period.  The  sea-peoples  no  longer  appear  upon  the 
monuments,  and  from  the  west  the  Delta  was  now  the  peace- 
ful conquest  of  the  Libyans,  who  accomplished  by  gradual 
immigration  what  they  had  failed  to  gain  by  hostile  invasion. 
Although  there  was  a  native  militia,  chiefly  under  com- 
mand of  the  High  Priest  of  Amon  at  Thebes,  Libyan  mer- 
cenaries now  filled  the  ranks  of  the  Egyptian  army,  and  the 
commanders  of  the  Meshwesh  in  control  of  the  fortresses 
and  garrisons  of  the  important  Delta  towns  soon  gained 
positions  of  power  and  influence.  A  Tehen-Libyan  named 
Buyuwawa  settled  at  Heracleopolis  early  in  the  Twenty 
First  Dynasty;  his  son  Musen  was  installed  as  a  priest  of 


PRIESTS  AND  MERCENARIES:  THE  LIBYANS 


52V 


the  Heracleopolitan  temple  and  commander  of  the  mer- 
cenaries of  the  town,  and  these  offices  became  hereditary 
in  the  family.1  Musen's  great  grandson,  Sheshonk,  was  a 
"  great  chief  of  the  Meshwesh,"  and  a  man  of  wealth  and 
power.  He  buried  his  son  Xamlot  at  Abydos  in  great 
splendour  and  richly  endowed  the  mortuary  service  of  the 
tomb  with  lands,  gardens,  slaves,  attendants  and  daily  obla- 
tions. When  the  administrators  of  this  property  proved 
untrue  to  their  trust  Sheshonk  was  possessed  of  sufficient 
influence  with  one  of  the  Twenty  First  Dynasty  kings,  whose 
name  is  unfortunately  lost,  to  secure  their  punishment  by 
oracle  of  Amon  at  Thebes.2  While  we  cannot  follow  the 
fortunes  of  the  other  Libyan  commanders  throughout  the 
Delta  in  this  way,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  were  all 
enjoying  similar  prosperity  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  and 
gradually  gathering  the  reins  of  authority  into  their  hands. 
The  weak  and  inglorious  Twenty  First  Dynasty  had  now 
been  ruling  nearly  a  century  and  a  half  and  the  descendants 
of  the  Libyan  Buyuwawa  at  Heracleopolis  had  been  con- 
stantly increasing  their  local  authority  for  an  equal  length 
of  time,  through  five  generations,  when  Sheshonk,  the  grand- 
son of  that  Sheshonk  of  whom  we  have  just  spoken,  suc- 
ceeded as  the  representative  of  the  family  there.  Either 
this  Sheshonk  or  his  immediate  ancestors  had  extended 
Heracleopolis  until  it  controlled  a  principality  reaching 
probably  as  far  as  Memphis  on  the  north  and  on  the  south 
as  far  as  Siut.  Whether  the  Tanite  line  died  out  or  its 
last  representative  was  too  feeble  to  maintain  himself  we 
shall  probably  never  know,  but  such  was  the  power  of  the 
Heracleopolitan  mercenary  commander  that  he  transferred 
his  residence  to  Bubastis  in  the  eastern  Delta,  where  he 
seized  the  royal  authority  and  proclaimed  himself  Pharaoh 
about  945  B.  C.3  His  line  was  known  to  Manetho  as  the 
Twenty  Second  Dynasty.  Thus  in  a  little  over  two  cen- 
turies after  the  death  of  Ramses  III,  who  had  smitten  them 
so  sorely,  the  Libyans  gained  the  crown  of  Egypt  without 

*IV,  785-793.  «ry,  669-687.  »IVS  785  £ 


528 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


so  much  as  drawing  the  sword.  The  change  which  thus 
placed  a  soldier  and  a  foreigner  upon  the  venerable  throne 
of  the  Pharaohs  had  gone  hand  in  hand  with  that  which  had 
delivered  the  country  to  the  priests;  but  the  power  of  the 
priest  had  culminated  a  little  more  rapidly  than  that  of 
the  soldier,  although  both  were  equally  rooted  in  the  im- 
perial system  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty. 

Sheshonk  immediately  gave  to  the  succession  of  his  line 
a  legitimacy  which  he  could  not  himself  possess.  He  mar- 
ried his  son  to  the  daughter  of  Pesibkhenno  II,  the  last  of 
the  Tanite  kings  of  the  Twenty  First  Dynasty,  and  thus 
gained  for  him  the  right  to  the  throne  through  his  wife,  as 
well  as  unquestionable  legitimacy  for  his  son.1  A  vigourous 
and  an  able  ruler,  it  might  have  been  expected  that  Sheshonk 
I,  as  we  shall  now  call  him,  would  be  able  to  weld  Egypt  anew 
into  a  powerful  nation;  but  those  elements  with  which  he 
was  obliged  to  deal  in  the  building  up  of  a  new  state  were 
not  such  as  could  possibly  be  wrought  into  any  stable  fabric. 
It  was  essentially  a  feudal  organization  which  was  now 
effected  by  Sheshonk  I,  and  the  princes  who  owed  him 
fealty  were  largely  the  turbulent  Meshwesh  chiefs  like  him- 
self, who  would  naturally  not  forget  his  origin  nor  fail 
to  see  that  a  successful  coup  might  accomplish  for  any  one 
of  them  what  he  had  achieved  for  himself.  Though  we 
cannot  demark  their  geographical  power  with  certainty,  it 
is  evident  that  they  ruled  the  Delta  cities,  rendering  to 
the  Pharaoh  their  quota  of  troops,  as  did  the  Mamlukes 
under  the  Sultans  of  Moslem  Egypt.  Upper  Egypt  was 
organized  into  two  principalities ;  that  of  Heracleopolis  em- 
bracing, as  we  have  seen,  northern  Upper  Egypt  as  far 
south  as  Siut,  where  the  Theban  principality  began,  which 
in  its  turn  included  all  the  country  to  the  cataract  and  per- 
haps Nubia  also.  The  country  thus  already  fell  into  three 
divisions  roughly  corresponding  to  those  of  Ptolemaic  and 
Roman  times.2  Sheshonk  by  his  origin  controlled  Heracle- 
opolis, and  he  and  his  family  after  him  maintained  close 


i  IV,  738. 


2  IV,  745-7. 


PRIESTS  AND  MERCENARIES:  THE  LIBYANS  529 


relations  with  the  High  Priests  of  Ptah  at  Memphis.  Not 
later  than  his  fifth  year1  he  had  also  acquired  Thebes.  He 
attempted  to  hold  its  support  to  his  house  by  appointing 
his  own  son  as  High  Priest  of  Amon  there;2  but  it  still 
remained  a  distinct  principality,  capable  of  offering  serious 
opposition  to  the  ruling  family  in  the  Delta.  The  city  itself 
at  least  was  not  taxable  by  the  Pharaoh,  and  was  never 
visited  by  his  fiscal  officials.3  Under  these  circumstances 
an  outbreak  among  the  Libyan  lords  of  the  Delta  or  in  the 
powerful  principalities  of  the  South  might  be  expected  as 
soon  as  there  was  no  longer  over  them  a  strong  hand  like 
that  of  Sheshonk  I. 

Under  the  energetic  Sheshonk  Egypt's  foreign  policy 
took  on  a  more  aggressive  character,  and  her  long  merely 
formal  claims  upon  Palestine  were  practically  pressed. 
Solomon  was  evidently  an  Egyptian  vassal  who  possibly 
received  in  marriage  a  daughter  of  the  Pharaoh  and  whose 
territory  his  Egyptian  suzerain  extended  by  the  gift  of  the 
important  city  of  Gezer.4  We  last  heard  of  it  under  Mer- 
neptah  three  hundred  years  before;  but  never  having  been 
subdued  by  the  Israelites,  its  Canaanite  lord  had  now  re- 
belled. The  Pharaoh  captured  and  burned  it  and  presented 
it  to  Solomon,  who  rebuilt  it.5  The  Pharaoh  with  whom 
Solomon  had  to  deal,  a  Pharaoh  who  captured  and  burned 
strong  cities  in  Palestine  like  Gezer,  cannot  have  been  one  of 
the  degenerate  kings  at  the  close  of  the  Twenty  First  Dy- 
nasty, but  an  aggressive  ruler  who  resumed  Egypt's  con- 
trol in  Palestine ;  and  we  know  of  no  other  king  at  this  time 
who  answers  this  description  save  Sheshonk  I.  After  the 
division  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Hebrews  under  Solomon's 
successor,  Rehoboam,  Sheshonk  I,  who  had  already  har- 
boured the  fugitive  Jeroboam,  Rehoboam 's  northern  enemy, 
thought  it  a  good  opportunity  to  make  his  claims  in  Pales- 
tine unquestionable,  and  in  the  fifth  year  of  Rehoboam, 
probably  about  926  B.  C,  he  invaded  Palestine.    His  cam- 

iIV,  700.  2  IV,  699.  3  IV,  750. 

«I  Kings,  9:  16.  6  I  Kings,  9:  15-17. 

34 


530 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


paign  penetrated  no  further  north  than  the  latitude  of  the 
Sea  of  Galilee  and  extended  eastward  probably  as  far  as 
Mahanaim  on  the  east  of  Jordan.1  Egyptian  troops  had  not 
penetrated  Asia  for  over  two  hundred  and  seventy  years, 
and  Sheshonk  let  loose  his  Libyan  mercenaries  among  the 
towns  of  the  plain  of  Jezreel,  which  they  plundered  from 
Rehob  on  the  north,  through  Hapharaim,  Megiddo,  Taanach 
and  Shunem,  to  Beth-shean  in  the  Jordan  Valley  on  the  east. 
In  the  South  they  spoiled  Yeraza,  Bethhoron,  Ajalon, 
Gibeon,  Socoh,  Beth  Anoth,  Sharuhen  and  Arad,  the  last 
two  places  marking  their  extreme  southern  activity.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Hebrew  records2  they  also  entered  Jerusalem 
and  despoiled  it  of  the  wealth  gathered  there  in  Solomon's 
day;  but  it  is  clear  that  Sheshonk 's  campaign  was  directed 
impartially  against  the  two  kingdoms  and  did  not  affect 
Judah  alone.3  He  kfterward  claimed  to  have  pushed  as 
far  north  as  Mitanni ;  but  this  is  evidently  a  mere  boast,  for 
Mitanni  had  at  this  time  long  ceased  to  exist  as  a  kingdom.4 
Among  other  Palestinian  towns  which  Sheshonk  records  as 
taken  by  him  is  a  place  hitherto  unnoticed  called  ' '  Field  of 
Abram,"  in  which  we  find  the  earliest  occurrence  of  the 
name  of  Israel's  eponymous  hero  (Fig.  180).  Sheshonk  was 
able  to  return  with  great  plunder  with  which  to  replenish 
the  long  depleted  Pharaonic  coffers.  He  placed  a  record  of 
the  tribute  of  Palestine  and  of  Nubia,  of  which  he  had  now 
gained  control,  beside  those  of  the  great  conquerors  of  the 
Empire  on  the  walls  of  the  Karnak  temple  at  Thebes.5  He 
installed  a  new  Libyan  governor  in  the  Great  Oasis,  and  one 
of  his  Libyan  vassal  chiefs  governed  the  western  Delta  and 
administered  the  caravan  communication  with  the  oases.6 
Thus  for  a  time  at  least  the  glories  of  the  Empire  of  the 
Nineteenth  Dynasty  were  restored  with  tribute  flowing  into 
the  treasury  from  a  domain  extending  from  northern  Pales- 
tine to  the  upper  Nile,  and  from  the  oases  to  the  Red  Sea. 
With  his  treasury  thus  replenished  Sheshonk  was  able 

1  IV,  709  ff.,  see  also  my  essay,  Amer.  Jour,  of  Sem.  Lang.,  XXI,  22-36. 

2  1  Kings,  14:  25.    *1V,  709-722.    *  IV,  710.    aV,  723-4  A.   6  iys  782-4. 


PRIESTS  AND  MERCENARIES:  THE  LIBYANS  531 


to  revive  the  customary  building  enterprises  of  the  Pharaohs 
which  had  been  discontinued  for  over  two  hundred  years. 
He  beautified  Bubastis,  his  Delta  residence,  and  at  Thebes 
undertook  a  vast  enlargement  of  the  Karnak  temple.  His 
son  Yewepet,  who  was  High  Priest  of  Amon  there,  dis- 
patched an  expedition  to  Silsileh  to  secure  the  stone  for  an 
enormous  court  and  pylon  which  were  to  complete  the  Kar- 
nak temple  on  the  west  and  give  it  a  magnificent  front 
toward  the  river.  The  side  walls  and  colonnades  of  the 
court  had  been  planned  and  erected  at  some  time  after  the 
Nineteenth  Dynasty,  but  the  pylon  was  still  lacking.  It 
was,  and  is  today,  the  largest  temple  court  in  existence, 
being  over  three  hundred  and  fourteen  feet  wide  by  two 
hundred  and  sixty  nine  feet  deep,  fronted  by  the  largest 
pylon  in  Egypt,  thirty  six  feet  thick,  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  high  and  with  a  front  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  seven 
feet  (Map  11).  Sheshonk  intended  that  it  should  be  used  at 
the  celebration  of  his  thirty  years '  jubilee;  whether  it  was 
ever  so  used  we  do  not  know ;  but  he  never  lived  to  see  it  com- 
pleted, and  the  builder's  scaffolding  and  ramps  of  sun-dried 
brick  still  cumber  the  walls  beneath  the  debris  of  many  cen- 
turies. Part  of  its  decoration  was  however  completed,  and 
by  the  south  gate,  now  known  as  the  Bubastite  Portal,  the 
Pharaoh  had  executed  a  huge  relief  in  the  old  style,  depict- 
ing himself  smiting  the  Asiatics  before  Amon,  who,  to- 
gether with  the  presiding  goddess  of  Thebes,  leads  and  pre- 
sents to  Sheshonk  ten  lines  of  captives,  containing  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  six  Palestinian  prisoners,  each  symbolizing 
a  town  or  locality  captured  by  Sheshonk  and  bearing  its 
name.1  A  number  of  Biblical  names  may  be  recognized 
among  them,  the  chief  of  which  we  have  already  noted. 

When  Osorkon  I,  Sheshonk  I's  son  and  heir,  followed  him, 
probably  about  920  B.  C,  he  succeeded  by  right  of  inherit- 
ance through  his  wife,  the  daughter  of  Pesibkhenno  II,  the 
last  king  of  the  old  line  of  the  Twenty  First  Dynasty.  He 
inherited  a  prosperous  kingdom  and  great  wealth.  During 

i  IV,  709-722. 


532 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


a  little  more  than  the  first  three  years  of  his  reign  he  gave 
to  the  temples  of  Egypt  a  total  of  no  less  than  four  hundred 
and  eighty  seven  thousand  pounds  Troy  of  silver,  while  of 
gold  and  silver  together  he  gave  over  five  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  pounds  Troy,  a  sum  which  doubtless  includes  the 
above  total  of  silver.1  These  enormous  donations  form  the 
most  striking  evidence  in  our  possession  for  the  wealth  and 
prosperity  of  the  Libyan  dynasty  in  its  earlier  days.  In 
order  to  control  the  Heracleopolitan  principality,  Osorkon 
I  built  a  stronghold  at  the  mouth  of  the  Fayum,2  while  in 
the  matter  of  Thebes  he  followed  his  father's  example  and 
installed  one  of  his  sons  as  High  Priest  of  Amon  there. 
After  the  death  of  two  of  his  sons  while  holding  this  office, 
his  third  son  Sheshonk  succeeded  to  the  position.  This 
Sheshonk  maintained  himself  at  Thebes  in  great  splendour, 
assumed  the  titles  of  royalty  and  so  increased  his  power 
that  he  was  able  to  ensure  the  succession  as  sacerdotal  prince 
of  Thebes  to  his  son.3  Thus  about  895  B.  C,  when  Takelot 
I  succeeded  his  father  Osorkon  I  at  Bubastis,  he  had  his 
powerful  brother  Sheshonk  as  his  rival  at  Thebes.  But 
after  Takelot  I's  short  reign  his  son  Osorkon  II  was  able 
to  regain  control  of  Thebes  and  executed  repairs  in  the 
Luxor  temple  after  a  great  flood  there.4  A  prayer  of  Osor- 
kon II  preserved  on  a  statue  of  his  found  at  Tanis  contains 
a  petition  which  significantly  hints  at  the  precarious  situa- 
tion in  which  the  Libyan  dynasty  now  found  itself.  He 
prays  that  his  seed  may  rule  over  "the  High  Priests  of 
Amon-Re,  king  of  gods;  the  great  chiefs  of  the  Meshwesh 
.  .  .;  and  the  prophets  of  Harsaphes,"5  the  last  being  the 
Libyan  dynasts  ruling  at  Heracleopolis,  from  which  the 
family  of  the  Pharaoh  sprang.  He  adds,  "Thou  shalt  es- 
tablish my  children  in  the  offices  which  I  have  given  them; 
let  not  the  heart  of  brother  be  exalted  [against]  his 
brother."6  Between  the  lines  of  this  prayer  one  can  read 
the  story  of  a  dynasty  rent  asunder  by  family  feuds  and  con- 
stantly threatened  by  revolt  of  this  or  that  powerful  mer- 

i  IV,  729-737.    2  IV,  853.    »  TV,  738.     « IV,  742-4.     «  IV,  747.     6  Ibid. 


PRIESTS  AND  MERCENARIES:  THE  LIBYANS  533 


cenary  commander  who  feels  himself  aggrieved  or  able  by 
force  of  arms  to  improve  his  position. 

In  all  essential  particulars  these  Libyan  rulers  of  Egypt 
were  completely  Egyptianized.  The  grandfather  of  the 
first  Sheshonk  had  buried  his  son  in  the  Egyptian  man- 
ner at  Abydos,  and  had  endowed  the  tomb  in  accordance 
with  Egyptian  mortuary  belief.1  Although  they  retained 
their  Libyan  names,  the  Bubastites  assumed  the  full 
Pharaonic  titulary  of  the  form  which  had  been  customary 
for  fifteen  hundred  years  in  Egypt.  Their  mercenary  vas- 
sal commanders  still  retained  their  old  time  native  titles, 
translated  into  Egyptian  as  ' 1  great  chief  of  the  Mesh- 
wesh, "  or  as  frequently  abbreviated  on  the  monuments 
" great  chief  of  the  Me";  but  they  worshipped  the  Egyptian 
gods  and  presented  to  the  temples  endowments  of  land  for 
the  sake  of  procuring  the  divine  favour  as  did  the  Egyptians 
themselves.2  While  Egyptian  culture  may  have  been  but 
a  slight  veneer  and  they  may  have  remained  Libyan  bar- 
barians, yet  the  process  of  Egyptianizing  was  rapidly  going 
on,  and  in  the  case  of  the  ruling  family  was  now  doubtless 
practically  complete.  Thus  in  his  twenty  second  year  we 
find  Osorkon  II  building  an  imposing  hall  at  Bubastis  for 
the  purpose  of  celebrating  after  the  old  Egyptian  manner 
the  thirtieth  anniversary  of  his  appointment  as  crown- 
prince.3  But  the  splendour  of  this  gorgeous  jubilee  cannot 
blind  us  to  the  decline  in  which  the  dangerous  forces  inher- 
ent in  the  situation  were  involving  the  Bubastite  family. 
After  a  short  coregency  with  his  son,  Sheshonk  II,  and  the 
death  of  this  prince,4  Osorkon  II  associated  with  himself 
another  son,  who  after  seven  years  coregency  succeeded  as 
Takelot  II,  about  860  B.  C. 

The  declining  fortunes  of  the  Twenty  Second  Dynasty 
from  now  on  can  only  be  traced  in  the  career  of  the  Theban 
principality,  which,  however,  clearly  exhibits  the  turbulent 
and  restless  character  of  the  feudal  princes  who  now  make 
up  the  state.    Here  the  High  Priest  Osorkon,  who  arrived 

l  IV,  669  ff.       2 IV,  782-4.       3  TV,  74S-51.       *  IV,  697,  No.  13;  772. 


534 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


at  Thebes  in  the  eleventh  year  of  Takelot  II,  began  a  series 
of  annals  on  the  walls  of  the  Karnak  temple  recording 
his  deeds  and  his  gifts  to  the  temples  in  his  own  name.1 
These  records  show  that  after  courting  the  favour  of  the 
Thebans  by  the  inauguration  of  a  new  and  richly  endowed 
temple  calendar  he  was  nevertheless  driven  from  the  city 
by  a  revolt,  which  finally  spread,  involving  the  North  and 
the  South  alike  in  civil  war.  The  High  Priest  fled  and  the 
war  lasted  for  years,  until  he  was  finally  able  to  gain  the 
support  of  his  father's  followers,  when  he  returned  to 
Thebes  amid  great  rejoicing,  as  his  long  fleet  of  ships  on 
the  river  drew  near  the  city.  He  immediately  repaired  to 
the  temple,  from  which  Amon  came  forth  to  meet  him  in 
gorgeous  procession,  and  the  god  thereupon  delivered  an 
oracle  exempting  the  Thebans  from  punishment  for  revolt. 
These  significant  events,  preserved  in  a  few  meagre  and 
fragmentary  lines  of  the  High  Priest's  annals,2  are  doubtless 
such  as  filled  the  reigns  of  the  last  three  Bubastites  who 
continued  to  hold  Thebes  and  ruled  for  a  hundred  years; 
although  their  city  of  Bubastis  has  perished  so  completely 
that  little  or  no  record  of  their  careers  has  survived.  To 
revolt  must  be  added  hostilities  between  the  two  principali- 
ties of  Thebes  and  Heracleopolis,  of  which  there  are  plain 
traces,3  and  feuds  among  the  mercenary  lords  of  the  Delta. 
The  situation  will  have  closely  resembled  that  under  the 
Mamlukes,  when  the  people,  groaning  under  every  oppres- 
sion and  especially  exorbitant  taxation,  often  successively 
taxed  by  two  different  lords,  rose  in  revolt  after  revolt, 
only  to  be  put  down  by  the  mercenaries  with  slaughter  and 
rapine.  Under  such  circumstances  the  Pharaoh's  influence 
in  Palestine  must  have  totally  vanished;  but,  alarmed  at 
the  growing  power  of  Nineveh  in  Syria,  one  of  the  Bubas- 
tites, probably  Takelot  II,  contributed  a  quota  of  a  thousand 
men  to  the  western  coalition  against  the  Assyrians,  which 
was  defeated  by  Shalmaneser  II  at  Qarqar  on  the  Orontes 
in  854  B.  C. 

•  IV,  756-770.  *  IV,  763-9.  " IV,  790. 


PRIESTS  AND  MERCENARIES:  THE  LIBYANS  535 


It  is  impossible  to  determine  with  certainty  the  family 
connection  of  the  last  three  Bubastites,  who  followed  Takelot 
II.  Sheshonk  III,  Pemou  and  Sheshonk  IV  may  have  had 
no  connection  with  him.  They  held  Memphis  and  Thebes, 
and  their  names  occasionally  appear  here  and  there  on 
minor  monuments.  The  memorials  of  Egypt's  ancient 
splendour  suffered  flagrant  destruction  at  their  hands  and 
the  vast  colossus  of  Ramses  II  at  Tanis  with  other  earlier 
monuments  were  broken  up  and  employed  by  Sheshonk  III 
in  the  construction  of  his  Tanis  pylon.  It  is  evident  that 
during  their  rule  the  local  lords  and  dynasts  of  the  Delta 
were  gradually  gaining  their  independence,  and  probably 
many  of  them  had  thrown  off  their  allegiance  to  the  Buba- 
stite  house  long  before  the  death  of  Sheshonk  IV,  about  745 
B.  C,  with  whom  the  Twenty  Second  Dynasty  certainly 
reached  its  end. 

One  of  these  Delta  lords,  named  Pedibast,  who  had  cast 
off  the  suzerainty  of  the  Bubastites,  gained  the  dominant 
position  among  his  rivals  at  the  death  of  Sheshonk  IV,  and 
founded  a  new  house  known  to  Manetho  as  the  Twenty  Third 
Dynasty.  Manetho  places  this  dynasty  at  Tanis,  but,  as 
Pedibast 's  name  shows,  he  was  of  Bubastite  origin,  like  the 
family  which  he  unseated,  and  as  we  shall  later  see,  his  suc- 
cessor ruled  at  Bubastis.  Pedibast  gained  Thebes  and  held 
it  until  his  twenty  third  year,  although  from  his  fourteenth 
year  he  was  obliged  to  share  its  control  with  king  Yewepet, 
a  dynast  of  the  eastern  Delta.1  A  late  Demotic  papyrus  in 
Vienna  contains  a  folk-tale  which  significantly  reveals  the 
unsettled  conditions  of  the  time  among  the  turbulent  dynasts, 
whom,  like  Yewepet,  Pedibast  was  unable  to  control.  It 
narrates  the  course  of  a  long  and  serious  feud  between 
Kaamenhotep,  the  dynast  of  Mendes  in  the  Delta,  and 
Pemou,  the  mercenary  commander  in  Heliopolis.  The  occa- 
sion of  the  quarrel  is  the  seizure  of  a  valuable  coat-of-mail 
by  Kaamenhotep,  and  Pedibast  is  unable  to  prevent  wide- 
spread hostilities  among  the  Delta  dynasts,  as  they  pro- 

i  IV,  794,  378,  No.  2. 


536 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


nounce  for  one  or  the  other  of  the  contending  principals.1 
Under  Pedibast's  successor,  Osorkon  III,  the  power  of  the 
dominant  house  rapidly  waned  until  there  was  at  last  an 
independent  lord  or  petty  king  in  every  city  of  the  Delta 
and  up  the  river  as  far  as  Hermopolis.  We  are  acquainted 
with  the  names  of  eighteen  of  these  dynasts,2  whose  strug- 
gles among  themselves  now  led  to  the  total  dissolution  of 
the  Egyptian  state.  The  land  again  resolved  itself  into 
those  small  and  local  political  units  of  which  it  had  consisted 
in  prehistoric  days,  before  there  existed  any  consolidated 
and  centralized  government.  Its  power  was  completely 
paralyzed  and  the  political  sagacity  of  such  statesmen  as 
the  Hebrew  prophets  was  of  itself,  without  the  aid  of  pro- 
phetic vision,  quite  sufficient  to  perceive  how  utterly  futile 
was  the  policy  of  the  Egyptian  party  in  Israel,  which  would 
have  depended  upon  the  support  of  Egypt  against  the  op- 
pression of  Assyria.  When  the  troops  of  Tiglath-pileser  III 
devastated  the  West  down  to  the  frontier  of  Egypt  in  734- 
732  B.  C,  the  kings  of  the  Delta  were  too  involved  in  their 
own  complicated  and  petty  wars  to  render  the  wretched 
Hebrews  any  assistance;  nor  did  they  foresee  that  the  day 
must  soon  come  when  the  great  power  on  the  Tigris  would 
cross  the  desert  that  separated  Egypt  from  Palestine  and 
absorb  the  ancient  kingdom  of  the  Nile.  But  before  this 
inevitable  catastrophe  should  occur,  another  foreign  power 
was  to  possess  the  throne  of  the  Pharaohs. 

1  Wiener  Zeitsch.  fiir  die  Kunde  des  Morgenlandes,  XVII,  sequel  to  Mitth.  aus 
der  Samml.  der  Pap.  Erzherzog  Rainer,  VI,  19  ff. 

2  IV,  796  ff.;  830,  878. 


Fig.  180-— "THE  FT  ELD  OF  ABRAM." 
Geographical  name  in  the  list  of  Sheshonk  I  at  Karnak,  containing  the  eariiest 
occurrence  of  the  name  of  Abram.    See  p.  530. 


Fig.  181.— SENJIRLI  STELA  Fig.  182.— SER APEUM  STELA  OF 

OF  ESARH ADDON.  PSAMTIK  I. 


He  leads  captive  Baal  of  Tyre  Recording  the  death  of  an  Apis  in  Psamtik  I's 
and  Taharka,  the  kneeling  twenty-first  year  which  was  born  twenty- 
figure,  with  negroid  features.'  one  years  earlier,  in  the  twenty-sixth  year 
(Berlin  Museum.)  of  Taharka. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 


THE   ETHIOPIAN   SUPREMACY   AND   THE   TRIUMPH  OF 

ASSYRIA 

Lower  Nubia  had  now  been  dominated  by  the  Egyptians 
for  over  eighteen  hundred  years,  while  the  country  above  the 
second  cataract  to  the  region  of  the  fourth  cataract  had  for 
the  most  part  been  under  Egyptian  control  for  something 
like  a  thousand  years.  We  have  seen  the  country  gradually 
being  Egyptianized  until  there  was  an  imposing  Egyptian 
temple  in  every  larger  town  of  Lower  Nubia,  and  since 
Ramses  II 's  time  the  Egyptian  gods  were  everywhere  wor- 
shipped. While  the  native  language  still  remained  the 
speech  of  the  people,  Egyptian  was  the  language  of  adminis- 
tration and  government  and  of  the  Egyptian  immigrants 
who  had  settled  in  the  country.  The  fertile  and  productive 
lands  of  Upper  Nubia,  the  rich  mines  in  the  mountains  east 
of  Lower  Nubia,  which  compensated  in  some  measure  for 
its  agricultural  poverty,  and  the  active  trade  from  the  Sudan 
which  was  constantly  passing  through  the  country,  made  it 
a  land  of  resources  and  possibilities,  which  the  Egyptianized 
Nubians,  slowly  awakening  to  their  birth-right,  were  now 
beginning  to  realize.  Nor  could  the  occasional  raids  of  the 
hostile  tribes  of  the  eastern  desert,  or  the  negroes  of  the 
Sudan,  which  still  continued,  essentially  interfere  with  the 
development  of  the  country. 

Sheshonk  I  had  still  held  Nubia,1  and  the  High  Priest  of 
Amon  at  Thebes,  in  the  second  half  of  Takelot  II 's  reign,  was 
able  to  offer  to  the  god  the  gold  of  Nubia,2  which  to  be  sure 
may  possibly  have  been  obtained  in  trade.  It  is  probable, 
however,  that  the  cataract  country  was  still  a  dependency 
of  Egypt  until  the  middle  of  the  Twenty  Second  Dynasty, 

i  IV,  724.  2 IV,  770. 

537 


538 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


about  850  B.  C.  It  will  be  recalled  that  Nubia  had  for  some 
centuries  been  very  closely  connected  with  Thebes  and  the 
temple  of  Amon.  There  was  a  ' '  gold  country  of  Amon ' '  there 
with  its  own  governor  as  far  back  as  the  close  of  the  Nine- 
teenth Dynasty;  the  High  Priest  of  Amon  became  viceroy 
of  Nubia  at  the  end  of  the  Twentieth  Dynasty ;  while  in  the 
Twenty  First  Dynasty  the  sacerdotal  princesses  of  Thebes 
held  the  same  office.1  Thus  after  the  Theban  hierarchy  had 
been  maintaining  a  strong  hold  upon  Nubia  for  over  a  hun- 
dred years  from  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century,  their  con- 
trol had  strengthened  into  full  possession  for  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years  more.  When  we  recollect  that  the  Tanites 
of  the  Twenty  First  Dynasty  had  banished  to  one  of  the 
oases  the  turbulent  families  of  Thebes,  who  had  opposed 
their  suzerainty;  and  that  they  were  later  obliged  to  recall 
the  exiles ;  when  we  remember  the  long  and  dangerous  revolt 
of  Thebes  under  Takelot  II,2  and  the  pardon  of  the  rebel- 
lious city  by  oracle  of  Amon,  it  will  be  evident  that  under 
such  conditions  the  priestly  families  at  Thebes  may  easily 
have  been  obliged  on  some  occasion  to  flee  from  the  ven- 
geance of  the  northern  dynasty  and  seek  safety  among  the 
remote  Nubian  cataracts,  which  would  effectually  cut  off 
pursuit.  Such  a  flight  would  not  be  likely  to  find  record, 
and  hence  we  have  no  direct  documentary  evidence  that  it 
took  place ;  but  by  the  middle  of  the  eighth  century  B.  C.  a 
fully  developed  Nubian  kingdom  emerges  upon  our  view, 
with  its  seat  of  government  at  Napata,  just  below  the  fourth 
cataract.  Napata  had  been  an  Egyptian  frontier  station 
from  the  days  of  Amenhotep  II,  seven  hundred  years  earlier ; 
and  long  before  it  was  held  by  Egypt,  it  had  doubtless  been 
an  important  trading  station  on  the  route  between  Egypt 
and  the  Sudan.  It  was,  moreover,  the  remotest  point  in 
Egyptian  Nubia,  and  hence  safest  from  attack  from  the 
North. 

The  state  which  arose  here  was,  in  accordance  with  our 
explanation  of  its  origin,  a  reproduction  of  the  Amonite 

i  iv,  796.  f  IV,  764  ff. 


ETHIOPIAN  SUPREMACY:  TRIUMPH  OF  ASSYRIA  539 


theocracy  at  Thebes.  The  state  god  was  Amon,  and  he  con- 
tinually intervened  directly  in  the  affairs  of  government  by 
specific  oracles.  The  control  of  the  god  was  even  more  abso- 
lute than  at  Thebes,  and  eventually  even  the  king  was  obliged 
to  abdicate  at  the  god's  demand,  who  then  installed  another 
ruler.  This  last  condition  of  things  was,  however,  the  out- 
come of  a  gradual  development,  and  did  not  obtain  at  first. 
In  Greek  times  the  priests  in  Egypt  were  wont  to  depict 
the  Ethiopian  theocracy  as  the  ideal  state,  and  closely  con- 
nected with  this  conception  of  it  was  the  false  notion  that 
Ethiopia  was  the  source  of  Egyptian  civilization,  a  belief 
commonly  held  by  the  Greeks.  The  king  bore  all  the  Phar- 
aonic  titles,  calling  himself  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  as  if 
he  governed  all  Egypt.  In  the  beginning  he  might  be  known 
by  an  Egyptian  name,  although  this  soon  disappeared  and 
was  replaced  by  a  personal  name  of  pure  Nubian  origin,  the 
throne-name  and  other  state  designations  still  remaining 
Egyptian  for  a  long  time.  He  built  temples  of  Egyptian 
architecture,  decorated  with  Egyptian  reliefs  and  bearing 
hieroglyphic  inscriptions  and  dedications  of  the  traditional 
Egyptian  form.  The  ritual  depicted  on  the  walls  was  that 
in  use  at  Thebes.  Of  the  Egyptian  origin  of  this  state  there 
is  no  doubt ;  nor  can  there  be  any  doubt  of  its  Theban  char- 
acter, although  there  may  be  some  difference  of  opinion  as 
to  how  this  last  fact  is  to  be  accounted  for. 

As  we  gain  our  first  glimpse  of  this  new  kingdom  of  the 
upper  Nile,  just  before  the  middle  of  the  eighth  century  B. 
C,  it  is  ruled  by  a  king  Kashta.1  We  are  unable  to  trace 
the  extent  of  his  power  northward,  nor  do  we  know  anything 
of  his  reign.  His  son,  Piankhi,  who  succeeded  him  about 
741  B.  C.  probably  began  the  absorption  of  Egypt.  In  any 
case,  by  721  or  722  B.  C,  he  was  already  in  possession  of 
Upper  Egypt  as  far  north  as  Heracleopolis,  just  south  of 
the  Fayum,  with  Nubian  garrisons  in  the  more  important 
towns.  At  this  time  the  Twenty  Third  Dynasty,  represented 
by  Osorkon  III  at  Bubastis,  no  longer  actually  ruling  more 

*  IV,  940. 


540 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


than  the  district  of  Bubastis  and  surrounded  by  rivals  in 
every  important  town  of  the  Delta,  was  confronted  by  an 
aggressive  and  powerful  opponent  in  Tefnakhte,  the  dynast 
of  Sais,  in  the  western  Delta.'1  In  Piankhi 's  twenty  first 
year  his  commanders  in  Upper  Egypt  reported  to  him  that 
Tefnakhte  had  defeated  the  dynasts  of  the  entire  western 
Delta,  and  of  both  shores  of  the  Nile  above  the  Delta,  almost 
as  far  south  as  the  vicinity  of  Benihasan.  Besides  these  he 
had  also  gained  control  of  all  the  eastern  and  middle  Delta 
lords,  so  that  he  was  practically  king  of  all  Lower  Egypt, 
as  well  as  the  lower  portion  of  Upper  Egypt.  Only  Hera- 
cleopolis,  which  we  have  already  seen  as  a  powerful  princi- 
pality, was  holding  out  against  him,  and  was  suffering  a 
siege  at  his  hands;  while  all  his  vassal  lords  of  the  Delta 
were  lending  him  aid  against  it,  and  personally  assisting 
in  the  investment.  The  wily  Piankhi,  perceiving  that  the 
balance  of  power  in  the  North  was  now  destroyed,  and 
desirous  of  drawing  his  enemy  further  southward,  away 
from  the  safety  of  the  impenetrable  Delta  swamps,  quietly 
awaited  developments.  A  second  appeal  from  his  northern 
commanders  then  informed  him  that  Namlot,  king  of  Her- 
mopolis,  had  submitted  to  Tefnakhte.  Thereupon  Piankhi 
sent  his  commanders  in  Egypt  northward  to  check  Tef- 
nakhte's  further  southern  advance  and  to  besiege  Hermop- 
olis.  This  they  did  while  Piankhi  was  at  the  same  time 
dispatching  from  Nubia  a  second  army  for  their  support. 
Having  left  Thebes,  this  second  Nubian  force  met  Tef- 
nakhte's  fleet  coming  up  and  defeated  it,  capturing  many 
ships  and  prisoners.  Continuing  northward,  in  all  proba- 
bility down  the  Bahr  Yusuf,  they  struck  Tefnakhte 's  forces 
engaged  in  the  investment  of  Heracleopolis,  and  put  it  to 
flight  both  by  land  and  water.  The  northerners  fled  to  the 
west  side  of  the  Bahr  Yusuf,  whither  they  were  pursued  the 
next  morning  by  the  Nubians,  again  discomfited  and  forced 
to  retreat  toward  the  Delta.  Namlot,  king  of  Hermopolis, 
who  had  fought  among  Tefnakhte 's  vassals,  escaped  from 

i  From  here  on,  after  the  Piankhi  Stela  (IV,  796-883). 


ETHIOPIAN  SUPREMACY :  TRIUMPH  OF  ASSYRIA  541 


the  disaster  and  returned  to  protect  his  own  city  of  Her- 
mopolis  against  the  Nubians.  Hearing  of  this,  the  Nubian 
commanders  returned  up  the  Bahr  Y^usuf  to  Hermopolis, 
which  they  then  closely  beset. 

On  receiving  reports  of  these  operations,  Piankhi  was 
incensed  that  the  northern  army  had  been  allowed  to  escape 
into  the  Delta.  It  was  now  late  in  the  calendar  year,  and 
Piankhi  determined,  after  the  celebration  of  the  New  lrear's 
feast  at  home,  to  proceed  to  Thebes  to  celebrate  there  the 
great  feast  of  Opet  in  the  third  month,  and  then  to  lead  the 
campaign  against  the  North  in  person.  Meanwhile  his  com- 
manders in  Egypt  captured  the  towns  below  and  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Hermopolis,  including  the  important  Oxyrhyncus,  but 
Hermopolis  itself  still  held  out  against  them.  In  accord- 
ance with  his  plan,  Piankhi  then  proceeded  northward  early 
in  the  calendar  year,  celebrated  the  feast  of  Opet  at  Thebes 
as  anticipated,  in  the  third  month,  and  went  on  to  assume 
charge  of  the  investment  of  Hermopolis,  which*  had  now  been 
going  on  for  certainly  four  and  probably  five  months. 
Piankhi  vigourously  pushed  the  siege;  from  embankments 
and  high  towers  the  doomed  city  was  daily  showered  with  ar- 
rows and  stones ;  foul  odours  arose  from  the  masses  of  dead, 
and  not  long  after  Piankhi 's  arrival  the  place  was  ripe  for 
surrender.  Namlot,  its  king,  finding  that  gifts,  even  when 
his  own  royal  crown  was  cast  down  among  them,  availed 
nothing  with  Piankhi,  sent  out  his  queen  to  plead  with  the 
women  of  the  Nubian  that  they  might  intercede  with  him  on 
Namlot 's  behalf.  This  device  was  successful,  and  assured 
at  last  of  his  life,  Namlot  surrendered  and  turned  over  the 
city  and  all  his  wealth  to  Piankhi,  who  immediately  took 
possession  of  the  place.  After  an  inspection  of  Namlot 's 
palace  and  treasury,  Piankhi  entered  the  stables  of  the  Her- 
mopolitan:  '  'His  majesty  proceeded  to  the  stable  of  the 
horses, "  so  say  his  annals,  "and  the  quarters  of  the  foals. 
When  he  saw  that  they  had  suffered  hunger,  he  said:  i I 
swear  as  Ee  loves  me  ...  it  is  more  grievous  in  my  heart 
that  my  horses  have  suffered  hunger  than  any  evil  deed  that 


542 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


thou  hast  done  in  the  prosecution  of  thy  desire.'  991  Nain- 
lot's  wealth  was  then  assigned  to  the  royal  treasury  of 
Piankhi  and  the  sacred  fortune  of  Anion. 

Heracleopolis  being  already  exhausted  after  its  invest- 
ment at  the  hands  of  Tefnakhte,  its  king,  Pefnefdibast, 
now  came  to  greet  Piankhi  and  praise  him  for  his  deliver- 
ance. The  advance  to  the  Delta,  sailing  down  the  Bahr 
Yusuf,  was  then  begun,  and  all  the  chief  towns  of  the  west 
side  surrendered  one  after  another  on  seeing  Piankhi 's  force 
except  Crocodilopolis  in  the  Fayum,  which  would  have  car- 
ried him  too  far  from  his  course  past  Illahun  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Fayum.  On  the  other  hand,  he  did  not  touch  Aphro- 
ditopolis,  which  lay  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  equally 
far  removed  from  his  route  past  Medum  and  Ithtowe  to 
Memphis.  The  Nubian  king  offered  sacrifice  to  the  gods 
in  all  the  cities  which  he  passed,  and  took  possession  of  all 
the  available  property  for  his  own  treasury  and  the  estate 
of  Amon. 

On  reaching  Memphis  it  was  found  to  have  been  very 
strongly  fortified  by  Tefnakhte,  who  now  counted  the  city 
as  part  of  his  kingdom.  He  had  long  held  possession  of  it 
and  was  priest  of  Ptah,  its  great  god.  Hence  in  answer 
to  Piankhi 's  demand  to  surrender,  the  Memphites  closed  the 
gates  and  made  a  sortie,  which  was  evidently  not  very  effect- 
ive. Under  cover  of  night  Tefnakhte  succeeded  in  entering 
the  city  and  exhorted  the  garrison  to  rely  on  their  strong 
walls,  their  plentiful  supplies  and  the  high  water,  which  pro- 
tected the  east  side  from  attack,  urging  them  to  hold  out 
while  he  rode  away  northward  for  reinforcements.  Having 
landed  on  the  north  of  the  city,  Piankhi  was  surprised  at 
the  strength  of  the  place.  Some  of  his  people  favoured  a 
siege,  others  desired  to  storm  the  walls  upon  embankments 
and  causeways  to  be  raised  for  the  purpose.  Piankhi  him- 
self decided  to  assault,  but  rejecting  labourious  works,  which 
besides  being  too  slow  would  give  the  enemy  exact  indication 
of  the  place  of  attack,  he  devised  a  shrewd  plan  of  assault, 


>  IV,  850. 


ETHIOPIAN  SUPREMACY:  TRIUMPH  OF  ASSYRIA  543 


which  speaks  highly  for  his  skill  as  a  strategist.  The  high 
walls  on  the  west  of  the  city  had  been  recently  raised  still 
higher,  and  it  was  evident  that  the  east  side,  protected  by 
waters  perhaps  artificially  raised,  was  being  neglected.  Here 
was  the  harbour,  where  the  ships  now  floated  so  high  that 
their  bow  ropes  were  fastened  among  the  houses  of  the  city. 
Piankhi  sent  his  fleet  against  the  harbour  and  quickly  cap- 
tured all  the  shipping.  Then  taking  command  in  person, 
he  rapidly  ranged  the  captured  craft  together  with  his  own 
fleet  along  the  eastern  walls,  thus  furnishing  footing  for  his 
assaulting  lines,  which  he  immediately  sent  over  the  ram- 
parts and  captured  the  city  before  its  eastern  defenses  could 
be  strengthened  against  him.  A  great  slaughter  now  ensued, 
but  all  sanctuaries  were  respected  and  protected,  and  Ptah 
of  course  repudiated  Tefnakhte  and  recognized  Piankhi  as 
king. 

The  entire  region  of  Memphis  then  submitted,  whereupon 
the  Delta  dynasts  also  appeared  in  numbers  with  gifts  for 
Piankhi  and  signified  their  submission.  After  dividing  the 
wealth  of  Memphis  between  the  treasuries  of  Amon  and 
Ptah,  Piankhi  crossed  the  river,  worshipped  in  the  ancient 
sanctuary  of  Khereha-Babylon,  and  followed  the  old  sacred 
road  thence  to  Heliopolis,  where  he  camped  by  the  harbour. 
His  annals  narrate  at  length  how  he  entered  the  holy  of 
holies  of  the  sun-god  here,  that  he  might  be  recognized  as 
his  son  and  heir  to  the  throne  of  Egypt,  according  to  custom 
usual  since  the  remote  days  of  the  Fifth  Dynasty.  Here 
king  Osorkon  III  of  the  Twenty  Third  Dynasty  at  Bubastis, 
now  but  a  petty  dynast  like  the  rest,  visited  Piankhi  and 
recognized  the  Nubian's  suzerainty.  Having  then  moved 
his  camp  to  a  point  just  east  of  Athribis,  by  a  town  called 
Keheni,  Piankhi  there  received  the  submission  of  the  Delta 
lords.  Of  these  there  were  fifteen :  being  two  kings,  the  said 
Osorkon  III,  who  was  still  with  him,  and  king  Yewepet  of 
Tentremu  in  the  eastern  Delta,  who  had  once  shared  ThebeM 
with  Pedibast,  Osorkon  III 's  predecessor ;  nine  princes,  whu 
governed  Mendes,  Sebennytos,  Saft  el-Henneh,  Busiriav 


544 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Hesebka  (the  eleventh  nome),  Phagroriopolis,  Khereha- 
Babylon,  and  other  towns  of  the  Delta  and  vicinity  which 
cannot  be  identified  with  certainty ;  and  finally  a  mercenary 
commander  in  Hermopolis  Parva,  son  of  the  prince  of 
Mendes,  besides  a  priest  of  Horus  who  had  founded  a  sacer- 
dotal principality  at  Letopolis,  like  that  of  the  priests  at 
Heracleopolis,  from  whom  the  Twenty  Second  Dynasty 
sprang.  Among  all  these,  Pediese,  prince  of  Athribis, 
showed  himself  especially  loyal  to  Piankhi  and  invited  him 
thither,  placing  all  his  wealth  at  the  Nubian's  disposal. 
Thereupon  Piankhi  proceeded  to  Athribis,  received  the  gifts 
of  Pediese,  and  that  he  might  choose  for  himself  the  best 
steeds,  even  entered  Pediese 's  stables,  which  the  shrewd 
Athribite,  observing  his  love  for  horses,  had  particularly 
invited  him  to  do.  The  fifteen  Delta  lords,  except  of  course 
Pediese,  were  here  dismissed  at  their  own  request,  that  they 
might  go  back  to  their  cities  and  return  to  Piankhi  with 
further  gifts,  in  emulation  of  Pediese. 

Meantime  the  desperate  Tefnakhte  had  garrisoned  Mesed, 
a  town  of  uncertain  location,  but  probably  somewhere  on 
his  Saite  frontier.  Rather  than  have  them  captured  by 
Piankhi  he  burned  the  ships  and  supplies  which  he  could 
not  save.  Piankhi  then  sent  a  body  of  troops  against  Mesed, 
and  they  slew  the  garrison.  Tefnakhte  had  meanwhile  taken 
refuge  on  one  of  the  remote  islands  in  the  western  mouths 
of  the  Nile.  Many  miles  of  vast  Delta  morass  and  a  network 
of  irrigation  canals  separated  Piankhi  from  the  fugitive.  It 
would  have  been  a  hazardous  undertaking  to  dispatch  an 
army  into  such  a  region.  When,  therefore,  Tefnakhte  sent 
gifts  and  an  humble  message  of  submission  requesting  that 
Piankhi  send  to  him  a  messenger  with  whom  he  might  go  to 
a  neighbouring  temple  and  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  his 
Nubian  suzerain,  Piankhi  was  very  glad  to  accept  the  pro- 
posal. In  this  less  humiliating,  not  to  say  much  less  danger- 
ous manner,  Tefnakhte  then  accepted  the  suzerainty  of 
Piankhi.  When,  therefore,  the  two  kings  of  the  Fayum  and 
Aphroditopolis  whom,  as  we  have  seen,  he  had  not  molested 


ETHIOPIAN  SUPREMACY:  TRIUMPH  OF  ASSYRIA  ^45 


on  his  way  northward,  appeared  with  their  gifts  a  Nubian 
Pharaoh  had  obtained  complete  recognition,  had  supplanted 
the  Libyans  and  was  lord  of  all  Egypt. 

When  his  Delta  vassals  had  paid  Piankhi  a  last  visit  he 
loaded  his  ships  with  the  wealth  of  the  North  and  sailed 
away  for  his  southern  capital  amid  the  acclamations  of  the 
people.  If  we  have  devoted  an  apparently  disproportionate 
amount  of  space  to  the  campaign  which  was  now  concluded 
it  is  because  it  displays  to  us  more  clearly  than  ever  before 
or  after,  the  conditions  which  always  arose  in  Egypt  when- 
ever any  weakening  of  the  central  power  betrayed  to  the 
local  dynasts  that  they  might  without  danger  assume  their 
independence  or  even  gradually  usurp  the  crown  of  the 
Pharaoh.  Arrived  at  Napata,  Piankhi  erected  in  the  temple  of 
Amon  a  magnificent  granite  stela,1  inscribed  on  all  four  sides, 
recording  in  detail  the  entire  campaign,  in  which  he,  the 
son  of  Amon,  had  humiliated  the  rivals  of  that  god  in  the 
North.  With  the  possible  exception  of  the  Annals  of  Thut- 
mose  III  and  the  documents  of  Ramses  II  on  the  battle  of 
Kadesh,  this  remarkable  literary  monument  is  the  clearest 
and  most  rational  account  of  a  military  expedition  which 
has  survived  from  ancient  Egypt.  It  displays  literary  skill 
and  an  appreciation  of  dramatic  situations  which  is  notable, 
while  the  vivacious  touches  found  here  and  there  quite  re- 
lieve it  of  the  arid  tone  usual  in  such  hieroglyphic  docu- 
ments. The  imagination  endues  the  personages  appearing 
here  more  easily  with  life  than  those  of  any  other  similar 
historical  narrative  of  Egypt;  and  the  humane  Piankhi  es- 
pecially, the  lover  of  horses,  remains  a  man  far  removed 
from  the  conventional  companion  and  equal  of  the  gods  who 
inevitably  occupies  the  exalted  throne  of  the  Pharaohs  in 
all  other  such  records.  It  is  this  document  of  course  which 
has  enabled  us  to  follow  Piankhi  in  his  conquest  of  the 
North. 

Tefnakhte,  while  he  had  nominally  submitted  to  Piankhi, 
only  awaited  the  withdrawal  of  the  Ethiopian  to  resume  his 

i  IV,  796-883. 
35 


546 


A  HISTORY   OF  EGYPT 


designs.  He  eventually  succeeded  in  establishing  a  king- 
dom of  Lower  Egypt,  assumed  the  Pharaonic  titles  and 
ruled  at  least  eight  years  over  a  feudal  state  like  that  of 
the  Twenty  Second  Dynasty.  His  reign  is  parallel  with  the 
last  years  of  the  Twenty  Third  Dynasty,  which  seems  to 
have  struggled  on  at  Bubastis  as  vassal  princes  under  him. 
It  is  evident  that  Tefnakhte  was  of  a  type  far  superior  to 
the  ordinary  Delta  dynast;  he  must  have  greatly  increased 
the  power  and  prestige  of  Sais,  for  his  son  Bocchoris,  on 
succeeding  to  his  father's  throne,  was  later  regarded  as 
the  founder  of  the  Twenty  Fourth  Dynasty.  In  Upper 
Egypt  Piankhi 's  rule  continued  for  a  brief  period.  He  con- 
trolled Thebes  long  enough  to  do  some  slight  building  in 
the  temple  of  Mut,  where  he  left  a  relief  representing  a 
festal  voyage  of  his  ships,  perhaps  his  return  from  the 
Xorth;  for  among  the  vessels  appears  the  state  barge  of 
Sais,  captured  from  Tefnakhte 's  fleet  in  the  northern  war. 
Piankhi  was  then  still  in  control  as  far  north  as  Heracle- 
opolis,  whose  commandant  appears  in  the  relief  as  admiral 
of  the  Nubian  fleet.1  In  order  to  gain  control  of  the  fortune 
of  Amon  with  an  appearance  of  legitimacy,  Piankhi  caused 
his  sister-wife,  Amenardis,  to  be  adopted  by  Shepnupet,  the 
daughter  of  Osorkon  III,  who  was  sacerdotal  princess  of 
Thebes.2  The  device  was  probably  not  new.  But  as  Piankhi 
withdrew  the  decadent  Twenty  Third  Dynasty  put  forth 
its  last  expiring  effort  and  established  an  ephemeral  au- 
thority in  Thebes,  where  Osorkon  III  seems  to  have  ruled 
for  a  short  time  as  coregent  with  an  otherwise  unknown 
Takelot,  the  third  of  the  name.  Piankhi 's  invasion  of  Egypt 
and  entire  reign  there  seem  therefore  to  have  fallen  within 
the  reign  of  Osorkon  III.  But  the  rising  power  of  Sais  soon 
overwhelmed  the  failing  Bubastites,  and,  as  we  have  noted, 
Bocchoris,  son  of  Tefnakhte  of  Sais,  gained  the  throne  of 
Lower  Egypt  probably  about  718  B.  C.  to  be  later  known 
as  the  founder,  and  in  so  far  as  we  know,  the  sole  king  of 
the  Twenty  Fourth  Dynasty.    We  know  nothing  from  the 

iIV,  811.  2 IV,  940. 


ETHIOPIAN  SUPREMACY:  TRIUMPH  OF  ASSYRIA  54? 


Egyptian  monuments  regarding  his  brief  reign;  the  only 
contemporary  monument  bearing  his  name  is  an  inscription 
dating  the  burial  of  an  Apis  bull  in  the  Memphite  Serapeum 
in  his  sixth  year.1  A  doubtless  reliable  tradition  of  Greek 
times  makes  him  a  wise  lawgiver  who  revised  the  laws  of 
the  land  and  himself  rendered  the  legal  decisions  of  the 
most  remarkable  shrewdness.  We  may  easily  believe  that 
the  agitated  times  through  which  the  country  had  passed 
made  such  new  legislation  necessary.  A  remarkable  De- 
motic papyrus  dated  in  the  thirty  fourth  year  of  the  Roman 
Emperor  Augustus  narrates  the  prophecies  of  a  lamb  ut- 
tered in  the  sixth  year  of  Bocchoris,  in  which  the  imminent 
invasion  of  Egypt  and  its  conquest  by  the  Assyrians  are 
foretold  seemingly  accompanied  by  the  assurance  that  the 
misfortunes  of  the  unhappy  country  should  continue  nine 
hundred  years.2  It  is  the  last  example  of  that  school  of  pro- 
phetic literature  of  which  Ipuwer  of  the  Middle  Kingdom 
was  the  earliest  representative  known  to  us.2  Manetho  char- 
acteristically narrates  this  marvellous  tale  as  an  important 
occurrence  of  Bocchoris 's  reign. 

Egypt  had  now  been  under  the  divided  authority  of  nu- 
merous local  dynasts  for  probably  over  a  century  and  a 
half.  The  total  disintegration  of  centralized  power  had 
unavoidably  involved  the  sacrifice  of  economic  prosperity. 
Egypt 's  foreign  commerce  inevitably  dwindled  to  the  van- 
ishing point;  agriculture  and  industry  were  at  the  lowest 
ebb  and  the  resources  of  the  country,  at  the  mercy  of  irre- 
sponsible lords  and  princes,  were  necessarily  being  rapidly 
drained.  With  its  vast  works  of  irrigation  slowly  going 
to  ruin,  its  roads  unprotected,  intercourse  between  cities 
unsafe  and  the  larger  communities  suffering  from  constant 
turmoil  and  agitation,  the  productive  capacity  of  the  country 
was  steadily  waning.  While  these  conclusions  are  not  based 
upon  contemporary  documents,— for  such  conditions  in  such 
an  age  are  rarely  even  indirectly  the  subject  of  record,— 
yet  they  may  be  safely  inferred  from  the  known  results  of 

i  IV,  884.  *  Krall,  in  Festgaben  fur  Biidinger,  Innsbruck,  1898. 

3  See  above,  pp.  204-05. 


548 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


similar  political  conditions  in  later  times.  The  hopeless 
state  of  the  country  was  clearly  understood  by  the  sagacious 
Isaiah,  who  declared  to  his  people :  ' '  Behold  the  Lord  rideth 
upon  a  swift  cloud  and  cometh  unto  Egypt;  and  the  idols 
of  Egypt  shall  be  moved  at  his  presence,  and  the  heart 
of  Egypt  shall  melt  in  the  midst  of  it.  And  I  will  stir  up 
the  Egyptians  against  the  Egyptians;  and  they  shall  fight 
every  one  against  his  brother,  and  every  one  against  his 
neighbour;  city  against  city  and  kingdom  against  king- 
dom. .  .  .  And  I  will  give  over  the  Egyptians  into  the 
hand  of  a  cruel  lord ;  and  a  fierce  king  shall  rule  over  them, 
saith  the  Lord,  the  Lord  of  Hosts.  .  .  .  The  princes  of  Zoan 
are  utterly  foolish;  the  counsel  of  the  wisest  counsellors  of 
Pharaoh  is  become  brutish.  .  .  .  The  princes  of  Zoan 
[Tanis]  are  become  fools,  the  princes  of  Noph  [Napata?] 
are  deceived ;  they  have  caused  Egypt  to  go  astray  that  are 
the  corner  stone  of  her  tribes.  The  Lord  hath  mingled  a 
spirit  of  perverseness  in  the  midst  of  her ;  they  have  caused 
Egypt  to  go  astray  in  every  work  thereof,  as  a  drunken 
man  staggering  in  his  vomit.  Neither  shall  there  be  for 
Egypt  any  work  which  head  or  tail,  palm-branch  or  rush, 
may  do."1    No  truer  picture  could  possibly  be  portrayed. 

In  spite  of  these  unfavourable  conditions,  one  important 
element  of  culture  in  Egypt  was  inspired  with  new  life.  As 
in  the  turbulent  age  of  the  Medicis,  Italy,  and  especially 
Florence,  enjoyed  an  artistic  transformation,  in  which  works 
of  the  highest  genius  were  produced  with  an  amazing  fecun- 
dity; as  in  Cairo  under  the  constant  revolutions,  assassina- 
tions, usurpations  and  incessant  oppression  of  the  Mam- 
lukes,  while  the  land  was  economically  going  to  ruin,  the 
mosque  form  was  developed,  perfected  and  the  noblest  monu- 
ments of  Saracen  architecture  were  erected;  so  now  under 
similar  seemingly  adverse  influences  the  sculptors  of  Egypt 
were  slowly  ushering  in  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  art  and 
feeling  impulses  which  we  shall  find  attaining  their  highest 
fruition  in  the  Restoration  which  was  to  follow  after  an- 
other half  century  of  foreign  aggression  and  political  decay. 

1  Isaiah,  19. 


ETHIOPIAN  SUPREMACY:  TRIUMPH  OF  ASSYRIA  o49 


Naturally  little  of  such  work  has  survived,  but  a  modest 
chapel,  erected  under  Osorkon  III  at  Thebes,  contains  re- 
liefs showing  clearly  the  new  capacity  which  needed  only 
social,  political  and  economic  opportunity  to  produce  the 
greatest  works  of  oriental  art. 

Meantime  those  profound  political  changes,  fraught  with 
the  greatest  danger  to  Egypt,  which  the  reader  has  fore- 
seen, were  taking  place  in  Asia.  The  powerful  military 
state  on  the  Tigris  had  for  centuries  been  seeking  to  estab- 
lish itself  as  the  dominant  power  in  western  Asia.  As  far 
back  as  1100  B.  C.  Nesubenebded,  the  first  of  the  Tanites, 
had  sent  a  gift  to  Tiglath  Pileser  I  on  his  appearance  in  the 
west;  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  later  the  Pharaoh 
had  contributed  a  quota  to  the  western  alliance  which  had 
hoped  to  break  the  power  of  Shalmaneser  II  at  Qarqar  in 
854  B.  C.  Rousing  Assyria  from  a  period  of  temporary 
decadence,  Tiglath-pileser  III  had  brought  her  full  power 
to  bear  upon  the  West,  and  in  734  to  732  B.  C.  had  ravaged 
Syria-Palestine  to  the  very  borders  of  Egypt.  The  Ara- 
maean kingdom  of  Damascus  fell  and  the  whole  west  was 
organized  as  dependencies  of  Assyria.  In  the  short  reign 
of  Shalmaneser  IV,  who  followed  Tiglath  Pileser  III,  Israel 
with  others  was  encouraged  to  revolt  by  Sewa  or  So,1  who 
was  either  an  otherwise  unknown  Delta  dynast  or  ruler 
of  Musri,  a  kingdom  of  North  Arabia,  the  name  of  which  is 
so  like  that  of  Egypt  as  to  cause  confusion  in  our  under- 
standing of  the  documents  of  the  time,  a  confusion  which 
perhaps  already  existed  in  the  minds  of  the  cuneiform 
scribes.  Before  the  Assyrian  invasion  which  resulted, 
Samaria  held  out  for  some  years;  but  under  Shalmaneser 
IV 's  great  successor,  Sargon  II,  it  fell  in  722  B.  C.  The 
chief  families  of  Israel  were  deported  and  the  nation  as 
such  was  annihilated.  Unable  to  oppose  the  formidable 
armies  of  Assyria,  the  petty  kinglets  of  Egypt  constantly 
fomented  discontent  and  revolt  among  the  Syro-Palestinian 
states  in  order  if  possible  to  create  a  fringe  of  buffer  states 

I  II  Kings,  17:  4. 


550 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


between  them  and  the  Assyrian.  In  720  B.  C.  Sargon  again 
appeared  in  the  west  to  suppress  a  revolt  in  which  Egypt 
doubtless  had  a  hand.  Completely  victorious  in  the  north, 
he  marched  southward  to  Raphia,  where  he  totally  defeated 
the  allies  of  the  south,  among  whom  Egypt  had  a  levy  of 
troops  under  a  commander  named  Sib'i.1  The  Assyrian 
hosts  had  now  twice  swept  down  to  the  very  borders  of 
Egypt  and  the  dynasts  must  by  this  time  have  been  fully 
aware  of  their  danger.  Probably  nothing  but  the  tradi- 
tional reputation  of  Egypt,  the  memory  of  the  old  days 
when  she  had  been  supreme  in  Asia,  and  Ninevite  kings  had 
sought  her  friendship  with  gifts,  kept  Tiglath  Pileser  III 
and  Sargon  from  invading  her  frontier  and  discovering  how 
lamentably  weak  she  was.  The  situation  was  now  reversed ; 
in  715  B.  C.  Sargon 's  records  report  the  reception  of  gifts 
from  Pir'u  (Pharaoh)  of  Egypt,2  who  will  probably  have 
been  Bocchoris, 

Such  was  the  threatening  situation  of  Egypt  when,  prob- 
ably about  711  B.  C,  after  an  interval  of  some  ten  years 
since  the  retirement  of  Piankhi,  the  Nubian  kings  again 
appeared  in  the  North.  Piankhi  had  now  been  succeeded 
by  his  brother,  Shabaka,  with  whom  the  uninterrupted 
series  of  pure  Ethiopian  royal  names  begins.  He  had 
married  Piankhi 's  daughter3  and  of  course  based  his  claim 
to  the  throne,  as  in  Egypt,  not  only  upon  his  own  birth, 
but  also  upon  this  alliance.  We  possess  no  native  records 
of  his  conquest  of  the  country,  but  Manetho  states  that  he 
burned  Bocchoris  alive.  Lower  Egypt  was  completely  sub- 
dued, Ethiopian  supremacy  acknowledged  and  Shabaka  en- 
trenched himself  so  firmly  that  he  became  the  founder  of 
the  Twenty  Fifth  or  Ethiopian  Dynasty,  as  reported  by 
Manetho.  Appreciating  the  serious  danger  of  the  presence 
of  so  formidable  a  state  as  Assyria  on  his  very  borders, 
Shabaka  immediately  sent  his  agents  among  the  Syro- 
Palestinian  states  to  excite  them  to  revolt.    In  Philistia, 


1  Winckler,  Unters.  zur  Altoriental.  Geschichte,  p.  93. 
*  Winckler,  Ibid.,  p.  94. 


3  IV.  920. 


ETHIOPIAN  SUPREMACY :  TRIUMPH  OF  ASSYRIA  551 


Judah,  Moab  and  Edom1  he  promised  the  vassals  of  Assyria 
support  in  rebellion  against  their  Ninevite  suzerain.  Re- 
membering- the  ancient  supremacy  of  Egypt,  failing  to  un- 
derstand the  state  of  decadent  impotence  into  which  she 
had  fallen,  and  anxious  to  shake  off  the  oppressive  Assyrian 
yoke,  they  lent  a  ready  ear  to  the  emissaries  of  Shabaka. 
Only  in  Judah  did  the  prophet-statesman  Isaiah  foresee  the 
futility  of  depending  upon  Egypt,  and  the  final  catastrophe 
which  should  overtake  her  at  the  hands  of  Assyria.2  The 
vigilant  Assyrian,  however,  hearing  of  the  projected  alli- 
ance, acted  so  quickly  that  the  conspirators  were  glad  to 
drop  their  designs  and  protest  fidelity.  In  spite  of  diffi- 
culties in  Babylon  and  rebellions  in  the  north,  the  able  and 
aggressive  Sargon  pushed  the  consolidation  of  his  power 
with  brilliant  success  and  left  to  his  son  Sennacherib  in  705 
B.  C.  the  first  stable  and  firmly  compacted  empire  ever 
founded  by  a  Semitic  power. 

Sennacherib  was  embarrassed  in  his  earlier  years  with 
the  Usual  complications  in  Babylon.  Mardukbaliddin,  an 
able  and  active  claimant  of  the  Babylonian  throne,  who  had 
already  caused  Sennacherib's  father  much  trouble,  now 
sent  his  emissaries  to  stir  up  defection  and  create  a  diver- 
sion in  his  favour  in  the  west.  As  a  result  Luli,  the  energetic 
king  of  Tyre,  Hezekiah  of  Judah,  the  dynasts  of  Edom, 
Moab  and  Ammon,  with  the  chiefs  of  their  Beduin  neigh- 
bours, in  fact,  all  the  southern  half  of  the  Assyrian  con- 
quests in  the  west  besides  Egypt  were  finally  organized  in 
a  great  alliance  against  Ninevah.  Before  the  allies  could 
act  in  concert,  Sennacherib  suddenly  appeared  in  the  west, 
marched  down  the  Phoenician  coast,  capturing  all  its  strong- 
holds save  Tyre ;  and  pressed  on  southward  to  the  revolting 
Philistine  cities.  Here  having  punished  Askalon,  he  ad- 
vanced to  Altaqu,  where  he  came  upon  the  motley  army 
gathered  by  the  tardy  Shabaka  among  his  northern  vassals, 
whom  Sennacherib  calls  "the  kings  of  Musri"  (Egypt). 
We  know  nothing  of  the  strength  of  this  force,  although 

i  Winckler,  Ibid.  2  Isaiah  20. 


552 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Sennacherib  claims  that  they  were  "without  number'';  but 
it  is  safe  to  conclude  that  it  was  not  a  formidable  army. 
With  the  dissolution  of  the  central  government  in  Egypt 
the  standing  army,  even  made  up  chiefly  of  mercenaries  as 
it  was,  had  disappeared  and  the  illy  organized  aggregation 
of  levies  from  the  domains  of  the  local  Delta  princes  was 
little  fitted  to  meet  the  compact  and  finely  organized  armies 
which  the  Assyrian  kings  had  gradually  developed,  till  they 
had  become  the  dread  and  terror  of  the  west.  Although 
small  Egyptian  contingents  had  before  served  as  auxiliaries 
against  the  Assyrians,  the  armies  of  the  two  empires  on 
the  Nile  and  the  Tigris  had  never  before  faced  each  other. 
Sennacherib  led  his  own  power  in  person  while  the  Egyp- 
tian army  was  entrusted  by  Shabaka  to  his  nephew,  a  son 
of  Piankhi,  named  Taharka,1  who  some  thirteen  or  fourteen 
years  afterward  became  king  of  Ethiopia,  a  fact  which  led 
the  Hebrew  annalist  to  give  him  that  title  already  at  the 
time  of  this  campaign,2  There  was  but  one  possible  issue 
for  the  battle;  Sennacherib  disposed  of  Taharka 's  army 
without  difficulty,  having  meanwhile  beleaguered  Jerusalem 
and  devastated  Judah  far  and  wide.  He  had  effectually 
stamped  out  the  disaffection  in  the  west  and  completely  dis- 
comfited the  allies,  but  before  he  could  take  Jerusalem  the 
plague-infected  winds  from  the  malarial  shores  of  the  east- 
em  Delta  had  scattered  death  among  his  troops.  This  over- 
whelming catastrophe,  together  with  disquieting  news  from 
Babylon,  forced  him  hastily  to  retire  to  Nineveh,  thus  bring- 
ing to  Jerusalem  the  deliverance  promised  by  Isaiah,  an 
event  in  which  pious  tradition  afterward  saw  the  destroying 
angel  of  the  Lord.  This  deliverance  was  perhaps  as  fortu- 
nate for  Egypt  as  for  Jerusalem.  For  the  third  time  the  in- 
vincible Assyrian  army  had  stood  on  the  very  threshold  of 
Egypt,  while  favouring  circumstances  had  each  time  caused 
its  withdrawal  and  saved  the  decrepit  nation  on  the  Nile  for  a 
little  time  from  the  inevitable  humiliation  which  was  now  so 
near.   The  Syro-Palestinian  princes,  however,  were  so  thor- 


IV,  892. 


*  II  Kings,  19 :  9 


ETHIOPIAN  SUPREMACY:  TRIUMPH  OF  ASSYRIA  553 


oughly  cowed  that  the  inglorious  Ethiopians  were  thenceforth 
unable  to  seduce  them  to  rebellion.  Like  the  Hebrews,  they 
at  last  recognized  the  truth,  as  mockingly  stated  by  the 
officers  of  Sennacherib  to  the  unhappy  ambassadors  of  Jeru- 
salem: "Now  behold,  thou  trustest  upon  the  staff  of  this 
bruised  reed,  even  upon  Egypt;  whereon  if  a  man  lean  it 
will  go  into  his  hand  and  pierce  it;  so  is  Pharaoh  king  of 
Egypt  unto  all  that  trust  on  him."1 

Shabaka  apparently  ruled  his  vassal  Egyptian  states  for 
the  remainder  of  his  reign  in  peace.  The  fragments  of  a 
clay  tablet  bearing  the  seal  of  Shabaka  and  a  king  of  Assyria, 
found  at  Kuyunjik,  may  indicate  some  agreement  between 
the  two  nations.  Shabaka  showed  great  partiality  to  the 
priesthoods  and  favoured  the  temples.  His  restoration  of 
an  ancient  religious  text  of  great  importance  in  the  temple 
of  Ptah  rescued  and  enabled  us  to  employ  in  this  work  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  documents  surviving  from  ancient 
Egypt.2  At  Thebes  he  reinstated  Amenardis,  his  sister, 
who  must  have  been  temporarily  expelled  by  Osorkon  III. 
Together  with  her,  he  built  a  chapel  at  Karnak,  and  his 
building  operations  necessitated  an  expedition  to  the  distant 
quarries  of  Hammamat.  We  also  find  records  of  his  temple 
restorations  at  Thebes,3  and  it  is  evident  that  he  governed 
Egypt  at  least  in  his  relations  with  the  temples,  precisely 
as  a  native  Pharaoh  would  have  done.  His  sister,  Amenar- 
dis, seems  to  have  actually  ruled  Thebes  with  a  large  degree 
of  independence,  and  in  spite  of  his  partiality  to  the  priests, 
it  was  probably  Shabaka  who  broke  the  power  of  the  High 
Priest  of  Amon,  of  whose  impotence  we  shall  see  further 
evidence  as  we  proceed. 

About  700  B.  C,  having  reigned  probably  twelve  years 
in  Egypt,  although  he  may  have  ruled  over  Nubia  for  some 
years  before  his  advent  in  Egypt,  Shabaka  was  succeeded 
by  Shabataka,  another  Ethiopian,  whose  connection  with  the 
reigning  Ethiopian  or  Nubian  family  is  a  little  uncertain, 
although  Manetho,  who  calls  him  Sebichos,  makes  him  a  sof 

"  II  Kings,  18:  21.  *  See  p.  357.  » IV,  886,  889 


554 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


of  Shabaka.  As  the  western  vassals  remained  quiet  and 
Sennacherib  was  now  absorbed  in  his  operations  at  the  other 
extremity  of  his  empire,  Shabataka  was  unmolested  by  the 
Assyrian.  His  name  is  rare  in  Egypt,  but  it  is  evident  from 
the  conditions  which  survived  him  that  he  was  entirely 
unable  to  exterminate  the  local  dynasts  and  consolidate  the 
power  of  Egypt  for  the  supreme  struggle  which  was  before 
her.  It  was  indeed  now  patent  that  the  Ethiopians  were 
quite  unfitted  for  the  imperial  task  before  them.  The 
southern  strain  with  which  their  blood  was  tinctured  began 
to  appear  as  the  reign  of  Shabataka  drew  to  a  close  about 
688  B.  C. 

It  is  at  this  juncture  that  we  can  trace  the  rising  fortunes 
of  prince  Taharka,  a  son  of  Piankhi,  who  had  gone  north 
from  Napata  as  a  youth  of  only  twenty  years  with  a  king 
whose  name  is  unfortunately  lost,  who  nevertheless  must 
have  been  Shabaka.1  He  was  the  son  of  a  Nubian  woman 
and  his  features,  as  preserved  in  contemporary  sculptures, 
show  unmistakable  negroid  characteristics.  A  son  of  the 
great  Piankhi,  he  played  a  prominent  role,  and  as  we  have 
seen,  he  was  entrusted  with  the  command  of  the  army  in  the 
campaign  against  Sennacherib.  We  know  nothing  of  the 
circumstances  which  brought  about  his  advent  to  the  throne, 
but  Manetho  states,  that  leading  an  army  from  Ethiopia  he 
slew  Sebichos,  who  must  be  Shabataka,  and  seized  the  crown. 
Having  thus  disposed  of  the  usurper,  the  contemporary  mon- 
uments without  intimation  of  these  events,  abruptly  picture 
him  in  Tanis  as  king,  summoning  his  mother,  whom  he  has 
not  seen  for  many  years,  from  Napata  to  Tanis,  that  she 
may  assume  her  proper  station  as  queen-mother  there.2  In 
view  of  this  fact  and  the  trouble  to  be  anticipated  from 
Assyria,  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  Ethiopians  at  this  time 
maintained  Tanis  as  their  Egyptian  residence. 

For  some  thirteen  years  Taharka  ruled  his  kingdom  with- 
out molestation  from  Asia.  Meantime  he  was  able  to  exe- 
cute buildings  of  minor  importance  in  Tanis  and  Memphis, 


iIV,  892,  895. 


2  IV,  892-6. 


ETHIOPIAN  SUPREMACY:  TRIUMPH  OF  ASSYRIA  555 


and  more  considerable  monuments  in  Thebes.  But  he  evi- 
dently foresaw  the  coining  struggle  and  duly  made  his  prep- 
arations to  meet  it.  The  west  had  for  twenty  years  seen 
nothing  of  Sennacherib,  who  was  now  assassinated  by  his 
sons,  in  681  B.  C.  As  soon  as  his  son,  Esarhaddon,  could 
arrange  the  affairs  of  the  great  empire  to  which  he  had  suc- 
ceeded, he  determined  to  resort  to  the  only  possible  remedy 
for  the  constant  interference  of  Egypt  with  the  authority 
of  Assyria  in  Palestine,  viz.,  the  conquest  of  the  Nile  coun- 
try and  humiliation  of  the  Pharaoh.  AYith  farseeing  thor- 
oughness, he  laid  his  plans  for  the  execution  of  this  pur- 
pose, and  his  army  was  knocking  at  the  frontier  fortresses 
of  the  eastern  Delta  in  674  B.  C.1  But  Taharka,  who  was 
a  man  of  far  greater  ability  than  his  two  predecessors  on 
the  throne,  must  have  made  a  supreme  effort  to  meet  the 
crisis.  The  outcome  of  the  battle  (673  B.  C.)  was  unfavour- 
able for  the  Assyrian  if,  as  the  documents  perhaps  indicate, 
he  did  not  suffer  positive  defeat.  But  Esarhaddon  never- 
theless quietly  continued  his  preparations  for  the  conquest 
of  Egypt.  Baal,  king  of  Tyre,  perhaps  encouraged  by  the 
undecisive  result  of  the  first  Assyrian  invasion,  then  rebelled, 
making  common  cause  with  Taharka.  In  670  B.  C.  Esar- 
haddon was  again  in  the  AVest  at  the  head  of  his  forces. 
Having  invested  Tyre,  he  was  aided  in  his  march  across  the 
desert  to  the  Delta  by  the  native  Beduin,  whose  camel-car- 
avans furnished  him  with  water.  Taharka  was  now  no 
longer  equal  to  the  persistent  struggle  maintained  against 
him  by  the  obdurate  Esarhaddon,  and  the  Egyptian  army 
was  defeated  and  scattered.  As  the  Ethiopian  fell  back 
upon  Memphis,  Esarhaddon  pressed  him  closely,  and  be- 
sieged and  captured  the  city,  which  fell  a  rich  prey  to  the 
cruel  and  rapacious  Ninevite  army.  Taharka  fled  south- 
ward, abandoning  Lower  Egypt,  which  was  immediately 
organized  by  Esarhaddon  into  dependencies  of  Assyria.  He 
records  the  names  of  twenty  lords  of  the  Delta,  formerly 

1  See  the  sources  for  the  following  campaigns  of  Esarhaddon  in  Winckler, 
Ibid.,  pp.  97-106. 


556 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Ethiopian  vassals,  who  now  took  the  oath  of  fealty  to  him. 
Among  these  names,  written  in  cuneiform,  a  number  may  be 
recognized  as  those  of  the  same  men,  or  at  least  the  same 
families,  with  whom  Piankhi  had  to  deal  in  the  same  region. 
Necho,  doubtless  a  descendant  of  Tefnakhte,  occupies  the 
most  prominent  place  among  them  as  prince  of  Sais  and 
Memphis.  The  list  also  includes  a  prince  of  Thebes,  but 
Esarhaddon  certainly  possessed  no  more  than  a  merely 
nominal  authority  in  Upper  Egypt  at  this  time.  As  he  re- 
turned to  Ninevah,  northward  along  the  coast  road,  he  hewed 
in  the  rocks  at  the  Nahr  el-Kelb,  beside  the  triumphant  stelae 
of  Eamses  II,  a  record  of  his  great  achievement  (Fig.  158) ; 
while  in  Samal  (Senjirli),  in  north  Syria,  he  erected  a 
similar  monument  representing  himself  of  heroic  stature, 
leading  two  captives,  of  whom  one  is  probably  Baal  of  Tyre, 
and  the  other,  as  his  negroid  features  indicate,  is  the  unfor- 
tunate Taharka  (Fig.  181). 

After  the  domination  of  Libyan  and  Nubian  in  turn, 
Egypt  was  now  a  prey  to  a  third  foreign  conqueror,  whose 
supremacy  was  however  totally  different  from  that  of  the 
aliens  who  had  preceded.  Both  Libyan  and  Nubian  were 
largely  Egyptianized  and,  as  we  have  seen,  ruled  as  Egyp- 
tian Pharaohs;  whereas  the  Delta  was  now  subject  to  an 
overlord,  who  was  the  head  of  a  great  Asiatic  empire,  having 
not  the  slightest  sympathy  with  Egyptian  institutions  or 
customs.  The  result  was  that  the  Delta  kinglets,  who  had 
sworn  allegiance  to  the  Ninevite,  immediately  plotted  with 
Taharka  for  the  resumption  of  his  rule  in  Lower  Egypt, 
which  he  thereupon  assumed  without  much  delay  on  the 
withdrawal  of  the  Assyrian  army.  Esarhaddon  vas  thus 
forced  to  begin  his  work  over  again ;  but  in  668  B.  C,  while 
on  the  march  to  resume  operations  in  Egypt,  he  died.  With 
but  slight  delay  the  campaign  was  continued  by  his  son, 
Ashurbanipal,  who  placed  one  of  his  commanders  in  charge 
of  the  expedition.  Between  Memphis  and  the  frontier  of 
the  eastern  Delta,  Taharka  was  again  routed.  Not  attempt- 
ing to  hold  Memphis,  he  fled  southward,  this  time  pursued 


ETHIOPIAN  SUPREMACY:  TRIUMPH  OF  ASSYRIA  557 


by  the  enemy,  and  took  refuge  in  Thebes ;  but  the  Assyrians, 
reinforced  by  native  levies  among  their  Delta  vassals,  made 
the  forty  days '  march  thither,  determined  to  expel  him  from 
Egypt.  They  did  force  him  to  abandon  Thebes,  but  he 
entrenched  himself  further  up  the  river  and  the  Assyrians 
did  not  push  the  pursuit  against  him.  AYhether  the  enemy 
actually  captured  Thebes  at  this  time  is  somewhat  doubtful. 
In  any  case,  Ashurbanipal  was  still  unable  to  extend  his 
authority  to  Upper  Egypt.  He  had  hardly  restored  his 
supremacy  in  the  Delta  when  his  vassals  there  again  began 
communicating  with  Taharka,  purposing  his  restoration  as 
before.  The  ringleaders  were  Necho,  whom  Esarhaddon 
had  established  as  king  of  Sais,  Sharuludari  of  Tanis  and 
Pakruru  of  Persepet  (Saft  el-Henneh) ;  but  their  correspon- 
dence with  Taharka  was  discovered  by  the  Assyrian  officials 
in  Egypt,  and  they  were  sent  to  Nineveh  in  chains.  There 
the  wily  Necho  was  able  to  win  the  confidence  of  Ashurba- 
nipal, who  pardoned  him,  loaded  him  with  honours  and 
restored  him  to  his  kingdom  in  Sais,  while  his  son  was 
appointed  to  rule  Athribis.  At  the  same  time  Ashurbanipal 
accompanied  him  with  Assyrian  officials,  intended  of  course 
to  be  a  check  upon  his  conduct.  This  plan  worked  well  and 
Taharka  was  unable  to  gain  any  further  foothold  among  the 
Assyrian  vassals  in  the  Delta,  although  the  priesthood  of 
the  Ptah  temple  secretly  dated  in  his  name  the  record  of  an 
Apis  burial  in  one  of  the  subterranean  passages  of  the  Sera- 
peum  at  Memphis  in  his  twenty  fourth  year  1  (664  B.  C). 
.  Several  years  passed  in  this  way ;  Upper  Egypt  continued 
under  the  actual  authority  of  Taharka.  At  Thebes  the 
High  Priest  of  Amon  was  now  a  mere  figure-head.  The  real 
authority  was  in  the  hands  of  one  Mentemhet,  who,  as 
"prince  of  Thebes' '  and  "governor  of  the  South,' '  also  held 
the  sacerdotal  primacy  of  Egypt.  His  rank  in  the  Theban 
priesthood,  however,  was  only  that  of  "fourth  prophet.' ' 
The  Theban  hierarchy  as  a  political  power  had  thus  been 
dissolved;  while  the  power  and  wealth  of  this  prince  of 

1  IV,  917  ff. 


558 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Thebes,  who  completed  costly  restorations  in  the  temples 
perhaps  after  destruction  by  the  Assyrians,  were  consider- 
able, even  in  these  days  of  Egypt's  poverty  and  disorgani- 
zation. 1  Taharka  held  the  fortune  of  Amon  at  his  disposal 
by  causing  his  sister,  Shepnupet,  to  be  adopted  by  Amenar- 
dis  the  " Divine  Votress,"  or  sacerdotal  princess  of  Thebes, 
who  had  been  appointed  by  Piankhi  in  the  same  way.2  At 
Napata  Taharka  either  built  or  enlarged  two  considerable 
temples,  and  the  Ethiopian  capital  evidently  became  a 
worthy  royal  residence  in  his  time.3 

Taharka  had  now  been  ruling  twenty  five  years  and  he 
was  growing  old,  when  in  663  B.  C.  he  accepted  as  coregent, 
perhaps  not  voluntarily,  a  son  of  Shabaka,  named  Tanuta- 
mon,  whom  he  appointed  over  Upper  Egypt.  Tanutamon 
probably  resided  at  Thebes,  where  Mentemhet,  the  prince 
of  the  Theban  principality,  was  still  in  control,  while 
Taharka  himself,  worn  out  with  the  unequal  struggle  against 
Assyria,  had  long  before  retired  to  Napata.  There  he  sur- 
vived the  appointment  of  Tanutamon  less  than  a  year,  dying 
in  663  B.  C,  whereupon  the  latter  hastened  to  Napata  to 
assume  the  sole  kingship.4  Before  these  events,  Tanuta- 
mon had  been  informed  in  a  dream 5  that  he  was  to  gain  the 
sovereignty  of  both  the  North  and  the  South,  and  in  response 
to  this  vision,  he  now  immediately  invaded  Lower  Egypt 
(663  B.  C).  All  was  repeated  as  in  the  days  of  Taharka. 
Upper  Egypt  of  course  received  him  with  acclamation,  and 
it  was  not  until  he  arrived  in  the  vicinity  of  Memphis  that 
he  met  hostile  opposition.  The  Assyrian  garrison  and 
doubtless  some  of  the  Delta  lords,  who  now  stood  in  great 
fear  of  their  Ninevite  suzerain,  gave  him  battle;  but  he 
defeated  them  and  succeeded  in  taking  Memphis.6  Necho 
of  Sais  probably  fell  in  the  action,  and  according  to  Hero- 
dotus, his  son  Psamtik  fled  to  Syria.  Elated  with  his  tri- 
umph, Tanutamon  sent  some  of  the  spoil  immediately  to 
Napata  with  orders  to  erect  new  temple  buildings  there/' 

iIV,  901  ff.  2  IV,  940.  3  IV,  897  ff.  *  IV,  923  ff. 

6 IV,  922.  6 IV,  925-8.  » IV,  929. 


ETHIOPIAN  SUPREMACY:  TRIUMPH  OF  ASSYRIA  559 


Meanwhile  the  Delta  vassals  of  Assyria  dared  not  yield  to 
the  Ethiopian,  in  view  of  the  inevitable  consequences,  and 
he  therefore  advanced  against  them,  but  was  unable  to  draw 
them  into  battle  or  capture  their  towns.1  On  his  return  to 
Memphis  after  this  fruitless  attempt  a  number  of  the  Delta 
lords  finally  came  to  do  him  homage,  but  undoubtedly  in 
such  a  form  as  to  save  their  standing  with  their  Assyrian 
over-lord.2 

Content  with  the  appearance  of  unchallenged  supremacy 
in  Lower  Egypt,  Tanutamon  settled  himself  in  Memphis  as 
Pharaoh  of  all  Egypt,  in  fulfillment  of  his  divine  vision. 
Meanwhile,  on  the  first  news  of  his  departure  from  Napata, 
the  Assyrian  officers  in  the  Delta  had  sent  with  all  haste  to 
Nineveh  to  notify  Ashurbanipal,  and  in  661  B.  C.  the  great 
king's  army  drove  the  Ethiopian  for  the  last  time  from 
Lower  Egypt.  The  Assyrians  pursued  him  to  Thebes,  and 
as  he  ingloriously  withdrew  southward,  they  sacked  and 
plundered  the  magnificent  capital  of  Egypt's  days  of  splen- 
dour. The  rich  cultus  images,  the  gorgeous  ritual  furniture 
and  implements,  with  which  the  pious  Theban  prince,  Men- 
temhet,  had  equipped  the  temples,  fell  a  prey  to  the  fierce 
Assyrian  soldiery,  while  "two  enormous  obelisks,  wrought  of 
bright  silver,  whose  weight  was  2,500  talents,  the  adornment 
of  a  temple-door,"  which  they  carried  off  to  Ninevah,  indi- 
cate the  wealth  still  remaining  in  the  temples  of  the  long  de- 
vastated nation.3  The  story  of  the  ruin  of  Thebes  spread  to 
all  the  peoples  around.  When  the  prophet  Nahum  was  de- 
nouncing the  coming  destruction  of  Ninevah,  fifty  years  later, 
the  desolation  of  Thebes  was  still  fresh  in  his  mind  as  he 
addressed  the  doomed  city :  ' 1  Art  thou  better  than  No- Amon 
[Thebes],  that  was  situate  among  the  rivers,  that  had  the 
waters  round  about  her ;  whose  rampart  was  the  sea,  and  her 
wall  was  of  the  sea  ?  Ethiopia  and  Egypt  were  her  strength 
and  it  was  infinite;  Put  and  Lubim  were  thy  helpers.  Yet 
was  she  carried  away,  she  went  into  captivity:  her  young 
children  also  were  dashed  to  pieces  at  the  top  of  all  the 

1  IV,  930.  *  IV,  931.  s  Winckler,  op.  cit. 


560 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


streets:  and  they  cast  lots  for  her  honourable  men,  and  all 
her  great  men  were  bound  in  chains."1  From  this  time  the 
fortunes  of  the  venerable  city  steadily  declined  and  its  splen- 
dours, such  as  no  city  of  the  early  orient  had  ever  displayed, 
gradually  faded.  It  entered  upon  the  long  centuries  of 
lingering  decay  which  have  left  it  at  the  present  day  still  the 
mightiest  ruin  surviving  from  the  ancient  world  (Fig.  183). 

The  retirement  of  Tanutamon  to  Napata  was  the  termi- 
nation of  Ethiopian  supremacy  in  Egypt.  His  whole  career 
was  characteristic  of  the  feeble  and  inglorious  line  from 
which  he  sprang.  Emerging  from  the  remote  reaches  of 
the  upper  Nile,  the  Ethiopians  had  attempted  an  imperial 
role  and  aspired  to  intervene  in  the  international  politics 
of  western  Asia.  At  a  time  when  Assyria  was  dominating 
the  East,  without  a  worthy  rival  elsewhere  to  stay  her  hand, 
it  was  to  be  expected  that  the  historic  people  of  the  Nile 
should  confront  her  and  dispute  her  progress  on  even  terms. 
To  this  great  task  the  Ethiopians  were  appointed;  but  there 
was  never  a  line  of  kings  so  ill  suited  to  their  high  destiny. 
Unable  to  weld  together  the  nation  they  had  conquered  into 
any  effective  weapon  against  the  Assyrians,  every  attempt 
to  stay  the  advance  of  their  formidable  enemy  furnished 
only  another  example  of  feebleness  and  futility.  Only  once 
does  Taharka  seem  to  cope  successfully  with  the  internal 
difficulties  of  his  situation  and  to  check  for  a  brief  moment 
the  triumphant  progress  of  Esarhaddon ;  but  the  indomitable 
Assyrian  quickly  breaks  the  resistance  of  the  Ethiopian, 
and  Taharka  seeks  ignoble  security  on  the  upper  Nile.  In 
a  word,  Assyria  was  never  dealing  with  a  first  class  power 
in  her  conquest  of  Egypt,  when  the  unhappy  Nile-dwellers 
were  without  a  strong  ruler;  and  for  such  a  ruler  they 
looked  in  vain  during  the  supremacy  of  the  inglorious  Ethi- 
opians. 

Withdrawing  to  Napata,  the  Ethiopians  never  made  an 
other  attempt  to  subdue  the  kingdom  of  the  lower  river,  but 
gave  their  attention  to  the  development  of  Nubia.    As  the 
Egyptians  resident  in  the  country  died  out  and  were  not 
replaced  by  others,  the  Egyptian  gloss  which  the  people  had 

i  Nahum,  3 :  8-10. 


ETHIOPIAN  SUPREMACY:  TRIUMPH  OF  ASSYRIA  561 


received  began  rapidly  to  disappear,  and  the  land  relapsed 
into  a  semi-barbaric  condition.  The  theocratic  character  of 
the  government  became  more  and  more  pronounced  until 
the  king  was  but  a  puppet  in  the  hands  of  the  priests,  at 
whose  behest  he  was  obliged  even  to  take  his  own  life  and 
make  way  for  another  weakling  whom  the  priests  might 
choose.  While  the  earlier  kings  had  built  up  and  beautified 
Napata,  their  successors  were  obliged  to  move  the  royal 
residence  up  the  river.  The  first  impulse  toward  this  change 
was  doubtless  due  to  the  campaign  of  Psamtik  II  against 
lower  Nubia  early  in  the  sixth  century.  In  any  case  at  this 
time  the  kingdom  began  to  expand  southward.  The  rich 
lands  on  the  Blue  Nile  of  which  the  most  important  district 
was  known  to  the  Arab  geographers  as  Aloa,  were  added  to 
the  kingdom.  Napata  was  separated  from  all  this  by  the 
upper  cataracts.  As  trade  connections  with  the  south  were 
established  and  new  acquisitions  there  developed  more  fully 
the  royal  residence  was  transferred  above  the  cataracts,  and 
by  560  B.  C.  the  Nubian  kings  were  occupying  their  new  capi- 
tal, known  to  the  Greeks  as  Meroe.  Apart  from  other  con- 
siderations, the  wisdom  of  thus  placing  the  difficult  cataract 
region  between  the  capital  and  invaders  from  the  north 
was  shown  by  the  discomfiture  of  Cambyses'  expedition 
against  Nubia  at  the  hands  of  its  king  Nastesen  in  525  B. 
C.  As  the  nation  shifted  southward  it  was  completely  with- 
drawn from  contact  with  the  northern  world ;  and  Ethiopia 
gradually  lost  behind  a  mist  of  legend,  became  the  wonder- 
land celebrated  in  Greek  story  as  the  source  of  civilization. 
The  Egyptian  language  and  hieroglyphics,  which  the  kings 
had  hitherto  used  for  their  records,  now  slowly  disappeared, 
and  by  the  beginning  of  our  era  the  native  language  was 
finally  written  in  a  script  which  as  yet  is  undeciphered. 
When  a  century  or  two  after  the  Roman  conquest  the  Ethi- 
opian kingdom  slowly  collapsed  and  fell  to  pieces,  its  north- 
ern districts  were  absorbed  by  wild  hordes  of  the  Blemmyes 
who  pushed  in  from  the  east ;  while  in  the  south  it  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  Christian  kingdom  of  Abyssinia,  which  rose 
at  the  sources  of  the  Blue  Nile  in  the  fourth  century  A.  D. 
and  assumed  the  name  of  its  ancient  predecessor. 

36 


BOOK  VIII 
THE  RESTORATION  AND  THE  END 


CHAPTER  XXVII 


THE  RESTORATION 

On  the  death  of  Xecho  of  Sais,  probably  at  the  hands  of 
Tanutamon,  Psamtik  his  son,  as  we  have  seen,  had  fled 
to  the  Assyrians.  Having  thus  shown  his  fidelity,  he  was 
installed  over  his  father's  kingdom  of  Sais  and  Memphis 
by  Ashurbanipal.  Egypt  now  seemed  more  hopelessly  in 
the  grasp  of  the  Assyrians  than  ever.  Deportations  of  for- 
eigners were  brought  in  and  the  vassal  organization  was 
strengthened.  The  Delta  thus  continued  under  the  mer- 
cenary lords  in  control  there  with  some  interruptions  since 
the  Twenty  First  Dynasty.  The  condition  of  Upper  Egypt 
is  uncertain,  but  Mentemhet  still  maintained  himself  as 
prince  there.  Outwardly  there  was  little  indication  of  the 
brilliant  day  which  was  now  dawning  upon  the  long  afflicted 
nation.  As  the  years  passed  Psamtik  was  gradually  reach- 
ing out  for  the  control  of  those  resources  which  should  en- 
able him  to  realize  the  ambitious  designs  always  cherished 
by  his  house.  He  was  a  descendant  of  the  aggressive  Tef- 
nakhte,  the  head  of  the  Saitic  family  in  Piankhi's  day,  and 
all  his  line,  as  far  as  known  to  us,  had  been  men  of  marked 
power  and  political  sagacity.  He  soon  shook  off  the  re- 
straint and  supervision  of  the  resident  Assyrian  officials. 
He  can  hardly  have  been  unaware  that  Ashurbanipal  was 
ete  long  to  be  engaged  in  a  deadly  struggle  with  his  brother, 
the  king  of  Babylon,  involving  dangerous  complications  with 
Elam.  As  this  war  came  on  (652  B.  C.)  an  attempt  of  the 
Arabian  tribes  to  send  aid  to  Babylon  demanded  an  Assyrian 
expedition  thither;  while  disturbances  among  the  peoples 
on  the  northern  borders  of  the  Ninevite  empire  and  the 
necessity  of  meeting  the  Cimmerians  in  Cilicia  required 
liberal  assignments  of  Ashurbanipal 's  available  military 

565 


566 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


forces  to  these  regions.  It  was  over  twelve  years  before 
these  difficulties  were  all  adjusted,  and  when  in  640  B.  C. 
peace  at  last  settled  upon  the  Assyrian  empire,  Psamtik 's 
movement  had  gone  too  far  and  Ashurbanipal  evidently  did 
not  care  to  risk  opposing  it. 

With  Psamtik,  the  Greek  traditions  regarding  Egypt  be- 
gin to  be  fairly  trustworthy,  if  the  folk-tales  which  the 
Greeks  so  readily  credited  be  properly  sifted.  Herodotus 
tells  the  familiar  story  of  how  Psamtik  was  one  of  twelve 
kings  who  had  amicably  divided  all  Egypt  between  them  and 
ruled  in  the  greatest  harmony.  There  came  an  oracle,  how- 
ever, which  declared  that  whosoever  of  them  should  offer 
a  libation  in  the  temple  of  Vulcan  from  a  brazen  bowl  should 
be  king  of  all  Egypt.  Some  time  afterward,  as  they  were 
all  offering  libations  in  the  temple,  the  officiating  priest 
failed  to  supply  them  with  enough  golden  bowls,  and  Psam- 
tik, taking  off  his  brazen  helmet,  used  it  in  lieu  of  the  lack- 
ing bowl.  He  was  thereupon  banished  to  the  Delta  swamps 
by  his  companions,  and  being  warned  by  another  oracle 
that  he  should  be  revenged  upon  them  when  brazen  men 
from  the  sea  should  appear,  he  awaited  his  opportunity. 
Certain  Carian  and  Ionian  mercenaries,  having  been  di- 
verted to  the  coast  of  the  Delta  by  a  tempest,  now  suddenly 
appeared  in  brazen  armour,  plundering  the  rich  Delta 
plains.  Psamtik  secured  their  services  and  subduing  his 
rivals,  made  himself  king  of  all  Egypt.  Divested  of  the 
folk-lore,  with  which  the  tale  is  distorted,  it  contains  the 
essential  facts  of  Psamtik's  early  operations.  The  twelve 
kings  are  of  course  the  mercenary  lords  of  the  Delta  with 
whom  we  are  so  familiar ;  while  the  Ionians  and  Carians,  as 
Meyer  has  seen,  are  the  levies  of  mercenaries  dispatched 
from  Asia  Minor  by  Gyges,  king  of  Lydia,  who  at  this 
juncture,  after  courting  the  Assyrians  to  save  himself  from 
the  Cimmerian  hordes,  is  anxious  to  combine  with  Egypt  in 
common  opposition  to  Ninevite  aggression.  The  Assyrian 
annals  state  that  he  sent  assistance  to  Egypt.  It  is  not  to 
be  doubted  that  Psamtik  took  advantage  of  these  favouring 


THE  RESTORATION 


567 


circumstances  in  the  creation  of  which  he  had  of  course  had 
a  hand,  and  by  such  means  gained  permanent  ascendency 
over  the  local  dynasts. 

His  progress  was  rapid.  By  654  B.  C,  just  as  Ashurbani- 
pal  was  advancing  on  Babylon,  he  had  gained  Thebes,  where 
Mentemhet,  Taharka's  favourite,  acknowledged  him.1  The 
political  power  of  the  Theban  hierarchy,  as  we  have  seen, 
had  been  completely  shattered  under  the  Ethiopians,  so 
that  Psamtik  was  not  called  upon  to  meet  that  perplexing 
problem.  In  order  to  obtain  legitimate  control  of  the  fortune 
of  Amon,  now  of  course  much  depleted,  he  decreed  that  his 
daughter  Nitocris  should  be  adopted  by  the  Divine  Votress 
at  Thebes,  Shepnupet,  the  sister  of  the  deceased  Taharka. 
The  decree  of  adoption,  which  has  survived,  is  the  only  con- 
siderable hieroglyphic  document  of  the  reign  of  Psamtik  I 
known  to  us;  it  contains  the  transfer  of  all  Shepnupet 's 
property  and  revenues  to  Nitocris.2  The  collapse  of  the  high 
priesthood  of  Amon  was  now  so  complete  that  within  sixty 
years  the  once  powerful  office  was  actually  held  by  these 
sacerdotal  princesses.  The  High  Priest  of  Amon  was  a 
woman!3  In  the  suppression  of  the  mercenary  lords  and 
local  dynasts,  Psamtik  made  an  end  of  the  intolerable  con- 
ditions of  semi-anarchy  which  had  so  long  blighted  an 
unhappy  land.  The  nation  was  at  last  rescued  from  the  un- 
stable rule  of  a  body  of  feudal  lords  and  their  turbulent  mili- 
tary adherents,  under  whose  irresponsible  tyranny  it  had  suf- 
fered, with  but  brief  respites,  for  some  four  hundred  years. 
This  remarkable  achievement  of  Psamtik  I  places  him  among 
the  ablest  rulers  who  ever  sat  on  the  throne  of  the  Pharaohs. 
Indeed  the  conditions  by  which  he  was  confronted  were  so  ad- 
verse, and  the  evils  with  which  he  was  obliged  to  cope  were  so 
old,  persistent  and  deeply  rooted  that  his  success  should 
perhaps  rank  him  higher  than  either  Amenemhet  I,  the 
founder  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty,  or  Ahmose  I,  the  con- 
queror of  the  Hyksos.  He  was  not,  however,  able  completely 
to  exterminate  the  dynasts,  as  is  commonly  stated.  Some 


i  IV,  937,  949. 


a  IV,  935-958. 


»IV,  988  D. 


568 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


of  them  would  of  course  espouse  his  cause  and  thus  gain 
immunity,  and  of  such  we  find  clear  traces.  At  Thebes  Men- 
temhet  remained  as  prince  and  "governor  of  the  South";1 
and  in  Heracleopolis,  the  other  principality  of  Upper  Egypt, 
we  find  prince  Hor,  with  the  rank  of  a  general,  building  a 
temple  in  his  own  name  at  least  a  generation  after  Psamtik 
I's  time.2  Such  an  enormous  tomb  as  that  of  Pediamenem- 
opet  at  Thebes  could  only  have  been  excavated  by  a  noble 
of  immense  wealth  and  extensive  power.  It  is  to  be  noticed, 
however,  that  at  Thebes  Mentemhet  is  called  upon  to  make 
liberal  contributions  to  the  revenues  of  Nitocris,  Psamtik 's 
daughter;3  and  what  is  still  more  important,  he  was  not 
succeeded  by  his  eldest  son  Nesuptah,  but  by  one  Pedihor, 
who  gained  the  titles,  "prince  of  Thebes  and  governor  of 
the  South."4  It  was  perhaps  Psamtik  I's  policy  to  with- 
draw from  the  feudal  lords  their  rights  of  inheritance  and 
thus  to  rid  himself  of  them  as  an  hereditary  class.  Enjoy- 
ing certain  privileges,  some  of  the  old  dynasts  therefore 
still  survived,  but  the  strong  and  skilful  hand  of  Psamtik 
held  them  firmly  in  check,  as  in  the  days  of  the  early  Middle 
Kingdom  under  Amenemhet  L  They  no  longer  endangered 
the  unity  of  the  nation. 

A  not  less  troublesome  problem  was  the  organization 
of  the  military  class.  The  now  completely  Egyptianized 
Libyans  who  had  lived  in  Egypt  for  centuries  had  finally  de- 
veloped into  a  warrior-class  of  no  great  effectiveness,  whose 
numbers  at  this  time,  absurdly  exaggerated  by  Herodotus, 
we  cannot  determine.  In  two  classes,  the  Hermotybies  and 
Calasiries,  enigmatical  designations  employed  by  Herodo- 
tus, they  inhabited  chiefly  the  Delta  cities  and  contributed 
nothing  to  the  economic  life  of  the  nation.  Besides  that 
of  the  feudal  lords,  it  was  also  the  opposition  of  this  class 
which  Psamtik  had  been  obliged  to  face ;  and  he  had  no  re- 
course but  to  pit  against  them  his  northern  mercenaries, 
the  Greeks  and  Carians.  Thus  Egypt,  having  suffered  the 
inevitable  fate  of  a  military  kingdom  in  the  ancient  world, 

I  IV,  949.  *  IV,  967-973.  3  IV,  949.  *  IV,  902  end. 


THE  RESTORATION 


569 


was  passing  into  the  control  of  one  foreign  warrior-class 
after  another.  The  army  which  Psamtik  I  now  put  together 
was  made  up  of  Greeks,  Carians  and  Syrians  on  the  one 
hand,  and  on  the  other  of  Libyans  and  their  Egyptianized 
kindred.  The  Ionians  and  Carians  were  stationed  on  the 
northeastern  frontier  near  Daphnae,  with  a  branch  of  the 
Xile  running  through  their  camp;  while  the  border  of  the 
western  Delta  was  secured  by  a  body  of  the  warrior-class 
in  a  stronghold  at  Marea,  not  far  from  the  site  of  later 
Alexandria.  At  Elephantine  a  similar  garrison  was  main- 
tained against  any  invasion  from  the  south.  Herodotus  re- 
lates that  two  hundred  and  forty  thousand  of  the  warrior- 
class,  having  been  kept  at  one  station  for  three  years  without 
being  relieved,  thereupon  deserted  and  departed  in  a  body 
southward  to  offer  their  services  to  the  king  of  Ethiopia 
at  Meroe.  While  his  numbers  are  incredibly  exaggerated, 
as  usual,  the  story  must  contain  a  germ  of  fact  as  it  accords 
with  all  that  we  know  of  the  conditions  in  Psamtik's  time. 
As  a  concession  to  this  class  his  body-guard  contained  a 
thousand  men  from  each  of  the  two  classes,  the  Hermotybies 
and  Calasyries;  but  he  will  have  had  many  more  of  his 
hardy  Greeks  and  Carians  at  his  hand  on  all  occasions. 

The  prosperous  and  powerful  Egypt  which  was  now 
emerging  from  the  long  Decadence  was  totally  different 
from  the  Egypt  of  any  earlier  renascence.  It  was  impos- 
sible again  to  rouse  the  nation  to  arms  as  in  the  days  when 
the  Hyksos  were  expelled;  it  was  therefore  inevitably  the 
deliberate  policy  of  Psamtik  I,  while  expending  every  effort 
to  put  the  nation  on  a  sound  economic  basis,  at  the  same 
time  to  depend  upon  foreign  soldiery  for  the  military  power 
indispensable  to  an  oriental  ruler.  His  necessarily  con- 
stant care  was  to  transmute  the  economic  prosperity  of  the 
land  into  military  power,  In  a  word,  the  wealth  of  the  land 
must  nourish  and  maintain  a  formidable  army,  even  though 
the  effective  portion  of  this  army  might  be  aliens.  This  was 
an  evil  which  Psamtik  was  powerless  to  alter.  In  such  a 
state  the  conservation  of  the  productive  capacities  of  the 


570 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


nation  is  as  important  as,  or  we  may  better  say,  indispen- 
sable to,  the  maintenance  of  the  army.  Neither  can  live 
without  the  other.  In  this  respect  Psamtik  I  was  confronted 
by  the  same  problem  which  faced  Omar  and  the  early  Ca- 
liphs. A  revival  under  such  conditions  as  these  is  due  al- 
most solely  to  the  personal  initiative  of  the  sovereign  who 
manipulates  the  available  forces:  those  of  power  and  those 
of  industry;  so  employing  them  all  in  harmonious  interac- 
tion that  prosperity  and  effective  power  result.  Psamtik 
was  himself  the  motive  and  creative  power,  while  the  people 
were  but  given  the  opportunity  to  fulfil  their  proper  func- 
tions and  to  move  freely  in  their  wonted  channels.  There 
was  no  longer  any  great  relative  vitality  in  the  nation  (and 
here  Psamtik 's  task  differed  strikingly  from  that  of  the 
early  Caliphs),  and  the  return  of  ordered  government  and 
consequent  prosperity  enabled  them  to  indulge  the  ten- 
dency to  retrospect  already  observable  in  the  Twenty  Third 
Dynasty.  Instead  of  an  exuberant  energy  expressing  itself 
in  the  spontaneous  development  of  new  forms,  as  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Empire,  the  nation  fell  back  upon  the  past 
and  consciously  endeavoured  to  restore  and  rehabilitate  the 
vanished  state  of  the  old  days  before  the  changes  and  inno- 
vations introduced  by  the  Empire.  Seen  through  the  mist 
of  over  a  thousand  years,  what  was  to  them  ancient  Egypt 
was  endowed  with  the  ideal  perfection  of  the  divine  regime 
which  had  preceded  it.  The  worship  of  the  kings  who  had 
ruled  at  Memphis  in  those  remote  days  was  revived  and 
the  ritual  of  their  mortuary  service  maintained  and  en- 
dowed. Their  pyramids  were  even  extensively  restored  and 
repaired.  The  archaic  titles  and  the  long  array  of  dignities 
worn  by  the  lords  at  the  court  and  in  the  government  of  the 
pyramid-builders  were  again  brought  into  requisition,  and 
in  the  externals  of  government  everything  possible  was  done 
to  clothe  it  with  the  appearance  of  remote  antiquity.  The 
writing  of  the  time  was  also  given  an  archaic  colour  on  for- 
mal and  official  monuments,  and  its  antique  forms  must  have 
cost  the  Saite  scribes  long  and  weary  study.    In  religion 


THE  RESTORATION 


571 


every  effort  was  made  to  purify  the  pantheon  of  all  modern 
interlopers  and  to  rid  the  ritual  of  every  innovation.  Every- 
thing foreign  in  religion  was  banished,  and  Set,  the  god  of 
the  waste  and  the  desert,  was  everywhere  exterminated. 
An  inexorable  exelusiveness  like  that  which  was  soon  to 
take  possession  of  the  new-born  Jewish  community  was  also 
now  universally  enforced.  The  ancient  mortuary  texts  of 
the  pyramids  were  revived,  and  although  frequently  not 
understood  were  engraved  upon  the  massive  stone  sar- 
cophagi. The  Book  of  the  Dead,  which  now  received  its  last 
redaction,  becoming  a  roll  sixty  feet  long,  shows  plain  traces 
of  the  revival  of  this  ancient  mortuary  literature.  In  the 
tomb-chapels  we  find  again  the  fresh  and  pleasing  pictures 
from  the  life  of  the  people  in  marsh  and  meadow,  in  work- 
shop and  ship-yard.  They  are  perfect  reproductions  of 
the  relief  scenes  in  the  mastabas  of  the  Old  Kingdom,  so 
perfect  indeed  that  at  the  first  glance  one  is  not  infrequently 
in  doubt  as  to  the  age  of  the  monument.  Indeed,  a  man 
named  Aba  at  Thebes  sent  his  artists  to  an  Old  Kingdom 
tomb  near  Siut  to  copy  the  reliefs  thence  for  use  in  his  own 
Theban  tomb,  because  the  owner  of  the  ancient  tomb  was  also 
named  Aba. 

In  this  endeavour  to  reconstitute  modern  religion,  society 
and  government  upon  ancient  lines,  the  archaizers  must 
consciously  or  unconsciously  have  been  constantly  thwarted 
by  the  inevitable  mutability  of  the  social,  political  and  eco- 
nomic conditions  of  a  race.  The  two  thousand  years  which 
had  elapsed  since  the  Old  Kingdom  could  not  be  annihilated. 
Through  the  deceptive  mantle  of  antiquity  with  which  they 
cloaked  contemporary  conditions,  the  inexorable  realities 
of  the  present  were  discernible.  The  solution  of  this  diffi- 
culty, when  perceived,  was  the  same  as  that  attempted  by 
the  Hebrews  in  a  similar  dilemma:  it  was  but  to  attribute 
to  the  modern  elements  also  a  hoary  antiquity,  as  the  whole 
body  of  Hebrew  legislation  was  attributed  to  Moses.  The 
theoretical  revival  was  thus  rescued.  This  was  especially 
easy  for  the  Egyptian  of  the  Saitic  restoration;  for,  long 


572 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


before  his  time  it  had  been  customary  to  attribute  to  the 
Old  Kingdom  especially  sacred  mortuary  texts,  favourite 
medical  prescriptions  and  collections  of  proverbial  wisdom. 
While  in  some  cases  such  attribution  may  have  been  cor- 
rect in  the  days  of  the  Empire,  this  was  no  longer  generally 
true  in  the  Twenty  Sixth  Dynasty.  In  one  particular  es- 
pecially, it  was  impossible  to  force  the  present  into  the 
ancient  mould ;  I  refer  to  the  artistic  capacity  of  the  people. 
This  always  fruitful  element  of  their  culture  was  now  a 
marked  exception  to  the  lifeless  lack  of  initiative  displayed 
in  all  other  functions  of  life.  Here  their  creative  vitality, 
already  revived  in  the  Ethiopian  period,  was  still  unblighted 
and  their  artistic  sense  was  keenly  alive  to  the  new  possi- 
bilities open  to  them  under  the  new  order.  We  have  seen 
that  the  Eestoration  in  religion  demanded  the  revival  of 
the  old  subjects  in  the  tomb-chapel  reliefs,  and  in  spite  of 
the  likeness  of  these  copies  to  their  ancient  models,  more 
than  a  superficial  examination  invariably  discloses  a  dis- 
tinct character  and  manner  peculiarly  their  own.  There  is 
just  that  touch  of  freedom  which  the  art  of  the  Old  King- 
dom lacked,  and  a  soft  beauty  in  their  sinuous  and  sweeping 
lines  which  adds  an  indescribable  grace  to  the  reliefs  of  the 
Saitic  school.  If  this  tendency  be  sometimes  extreme  to 
the  point  of  effeminacy,  it  is  compensated  for  by  the  quali- 
ties which  the  new  freedom  brought  with  it.  While  the  old 
canons  and  conventionalities  still  prevailed  in  general,  there 
was  now  and  then  an  artist  who  could  shake  them  off  and 
place  the  human  body  in  relief  with  the  shoulders  drawn 
in  proper  relations  and  freed  from  the  distortion  of  the  Old 
Kingdom.  It  was  this  freedom  and  ability  to  see  things  as 
they  are  which  led  to  a  school  of  portraiture  far  surpassing 
the  best  work  of  the  Old  Kingdom.  Among  the  Saitic  mor- 
tuary reliefs  the  conventional  heads  prescribed  by  the  Old 
Kingdom  canons  are  still  almost  invariable;  but  the  artist 
could  now  and  then  insert  a  portrait  of  such  marked  indi- 
viduality as  to  stand  out  in  sharp  contrast  with  the  uni- 
formity of  the  neighbouring  heads.    Portraits  of  the  same 


THE  RESTORATION 


573 


character  appear  also  in  the  round  (Fig.  186),  displaying  a 
study  of  the  bony  conformation  of  the  skull,  the  folds  and 
wrinkles  of  the  skin,  in  fine  a  mastery  of  the  entire  anatomical 
development  and  a  grasp  of  individual  character  such  as  no 
early  art  had  yet  achieved.  Such  works  can  only  be  com- 
pared with  the  portraits  of  the  Greek  sculptors  at  the  height 
of  their  skill,  and  they  do  not  suffer  by  the  comparison.  The 
artist  in  bronze  was  now  supreme,  hollow  casts  of  consider- 
able size  were  made  and  animal  forms  are  especially  fine 
(Fig.  185).  Superb  bronze  statues  elaborately  inlaid  with 
rich  designs  in  gold,  silver  and  electrum  display  surprising 
refinements  in  technique.  Works  in  bronze  are  now  very 
numerous  and  most  of  those  which  fill  the  modern  museums 
were  produced  in  this  age.  Industrial  art  flourished  as 
never  before  and  the  Egyptian  craftsman  was  rarely  rivalled. 
In  fayence  the  manufactories  of  the  time  were  especially  suc- 
cessful and  prolific,  and  the  museum  collections  are  filled  with 
works  of  this  period.  The  architecture  of  the  time  has,  alas, 
perished,  and  if  we  may  judge  from  the  achievements  of  the 
Saitic  sculptor,  we  have  in  this  respect  suffered  irreparable 
loss ;  for  it  is  probable  that  we  owe  the  origin  of  the  rich  and 
beautiful  columns  of  Ptolemaic  temples  to  the  Saite  architect. 

While  the  material  products  of  art  offered  visual  evidence 
of  marked  divergence  from  the  ancient  prototype  which  it 
was  supposed  to  follow,  such  incongruities  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  government,  while  not  less  real,  were  probably 
not  so  evident.  From  the  few  surviving  monuments  of  the 
period  the  real  character  of  the  state  is  not  clearly  deter- 
minable.  Geographically  the  Delta  had  forever  become  the 
dominant  region.  The  development  of  commerce  with  the 
northern  world  and  related  political  reasons  had  made  this 
northward  shift  inevitable  and  permanent.  Psamtik  and 
his  descendants  lived  in  their  native  Sais,  which  now  became 
a  great  and  splendid  city,  adorned  with  temples  and  palaces. 
Thebes  no  longer  possessed  either  political  or  religious  sig- 
nificance. The  valley  of  the  Nile  was  but  an  appendage 
upon  the  Delta.    We  have  already  referred  to  the  survival 


574 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


of  certain  of  the  feudal  lords.  They  may  have  retained 
their  lands,  but  judging  from  the  case  of  Mentemhet  of 
Thebes,  they  could  not  bequeath  them  to  their  sons.  With 
these  exceptions  all  the  land  belonged  to  the  crown  and  was 
worked  by  the  peasant  serfs,  who  rendered  twenty  percent 
of  the  yield  to  the  Pharaoh.  Priests  and  soldiers  were 
exempt  from  taxation.  The  administration  must  have  been 
conducted  as  under  the  Empire  by  local  officials  of  the  cen- 
tral government,  who  collected  the  taxes  and  possessed 
judicial  powers.  The  archaic  titles  which  they  bear,  as  far 
as  I  have  been  able  to  trace  them,  usually  correspond  to 
no  real  functions  in  government.  In  education  and  training 
these  men  are  fundamentally  different  from  the  scribal 
officials  of  the  Empire,  in  that  they  are  not  of  necessity  pos- 
sessed of  a  knowledge  of  the  old  hieroglyphic.  Since  the 
Ethiopian  Dynasty  there  has  grown  up  a  very  cursive  form 
of  hieratic,  the  ancient  running  hand.  This  new  and  more 
rapid  form,  an  unconscious  development,  is  better  suited  to 
the  needs  of  practical  business  and  administration,  and 
being  in  common  and  everyday  use,  was  therefore  known  to 
the  Greeks  as  " demotic' '  writing,  a  term  now  usually 
applied  to  it  at  the  present  day.  It  represented  the  lan- 
guage then  spoken,  while  the  hieroglyphic  of  the  time,  which 
continued  to  lead  an  artificial  existence,  employed  the  archaic 
form  of  the  language  which  had  prevailed  centuries  before. 
That  this  fundamental  change  was  but  one  among  many 
modifications  and  alterations  in  the  government,  must  of 
necessity  have  resulted  from  the  changed  conditions.  So- 
cially, the  influence  of  revived  industry  had  divided  the 
people  into  more  or  less  sharply  defined  classes  or  guilds,  de- 
termined by  their  occupations;  but  ' ' caste "  in  the  proper 
significance  of  the  term,  was  as  unknown  as  at  any  time  in 
Egyptian  history. 

The  priests  succeeded  little  better  than  the  officials  in 
their  revival  of  the  good  old  times.  It  is,  indeed,  to  the 
priesthoods  in  general  that  the  attempted  restoration  must 
be  largely  attributed.     The  religious,  like  the  political, 


THE  RESTORATION 


575 


centre,  had  completely  shifted;  Thebes,  as  we  have  stated, 
no  longer  possessed  any  religious  significance.  In  the  Delta 
cities  of  Sais,  Athribis  and  Buto  were  the  wealthiest  temples. 
Quite  in  contrast  with  conditions  in  the  Old  Kingdom,  the 
priests  now  constituted  a  more  exclusive  and  distinct  class 
than  ever  before,  and  the  office  had  become  inalienably  hered- 
itary. Venerated  by  the  people,  it  was  a  political  necessity 
that  their  maintenance  should  be  provided  for  by  liberal  rev- 
enues. While  they  no  longer  possessed  any  political  in- 
fluence to  be  compared  with  that  which  they  exercised  under 
the  Empire,  yet  we  find  the  old  count  of  Thinis  deprived 
of  his  ancient  revenues  from  the  oases  and  the  local  ferry, 
that  they  may  be  transferred  to  Osiris.1  The  reverse  was. 
however,  the  rule,  as  we  shall  see.  The  old  gods  could  not 
be  resuscitated;  among  them  only  Osiris  still  maintained 
himself.  His  consort,  Isis,  contrary  to  the  ancient  customs, 
acquired  an  elaborate  cultus,  and  the  wide  celebrity  which 
afterward  brought  her  such  general  favour  in  the  classic 
world.  Imhotep,  the  wise  man  of  Zoser's  court  twenty  five 
hundred  years  earlier,  now  gained  a  place  among  the  gods, 
as  son  of  Ptah,  an  innovation  of  which  the  priests  were 
unconscious.  The  religion  which  the  priests  represented 
was  the  inevitable  result  of  the  tendencies  observable  at 
the  close  of  the  Empire.  It  consisted  as  far  as  daily  life 
and  conduct  were  concerned,  like  the  Rabbinical  faith  born 
under  very  similar  conditions,  in  innumerable  external 
usages,  and  the  most  painful  observance  of  the  laws  of  cere- 
monial purity.  We  find  nobles  and  officials  everywhere 
erecting  sanctuaries  to  the  gods.2  While  formerly  only  one 
of  a  class  of  animals  was  sacred,  now  in  many  cases  every 
representative  of  that  class  was  inviolable.  The  increased 
reverence  for  these  manifestations  of  the  gods  is  especially 
illustrated  in  the  elaborate  worship  of  the  Apis-bull,  a  form 
of  Ptah,  and  the  vast  sepulchre,  where  thev  now  received 
their  gorgeous  burial,  the  Serapeuni  of  Memphis  became 
famous  among  the  Greeks.     While  a  slight  inclination 


■  IV,  1016,  1024. 


IV,  9G7  ff.,  989  ff.,  1015  ff. 


576 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


toward  this  tendency  was  observable  already  in  the  Old 
Kingdom,  it  now  took  on  the  crass  form,  which  finally  led 
to  the  fanatical  excesses  of  the  Alexandrians  in  Roman  times. 
It  is  probable  that  the  priests  read  into  all  these  outward 
manifestations,  as  into  their  mythological  tales,  a  higher 
meaning,  which  they  never  originally  possessed.  Of  this  pro- 
cedure we  have  already  seen  an  example  in  the  Empire,1 
but  we  are  unable  to  determine  whether  they  actually 
taught  all  that  the  Greeks  attribute  to  them  of  this  charac- 
ter. While  their  education  in  the  Empire  had  kept  them 
in  contact  with  the  living  times,  they  were  now  obliged  to 
learn  a  language  and  a  method  of  writing,  and  to  acquaint 
themselves  with  a  mass  of  inherited  literature,  with  which 
the  busy  world  around  them  had  long  parted  company.  It 
was  by  this  process  that  the  ancient  writing,  already  early 
regarded  as  of  divine  origin,  became  a  sacred  accomplish- 
ment, the  especial  characteristic  of  sacred  learning,  and  was 
therefore  called  by  the  Greeks  "  hieroglyphs ' 1  or  sacred 
glyphs.  Such  an  education  necessarily  projected  the  priests 
far  into  a  long  forgotten  world,  whose  inherited  wisdom,  as 
among  the  Chinese  or  the  Mohammedans,  was  the  final  word. 
The  writings  and  sacred  rolls  of  the  past  were  now  eagerly 
sought  out,  and  with  the  dust  of  ages  upon  them,  they  were 
collected,  sorted  and  arranged.  Thus  the  past  was  supreme ; 
the  priest  who  cherished  it  lived  in  a  realm  of  shadows,  and 
for  the  contemporary  world  he  had  no  vital  meaning.  Like- 
wise in  Babylon  the  same  retrospective  spirit  was  now  the 
dominant  characteristic  of  the  reviving  empire  of  Nebuchad- 
rezzar. The  world  was  already  growing  old,  and  every- 
where men  were  fondly  dwelling  on  her  faraway  youth. 

While  the  internal  aspects  of  the  Saitic  period  are  so 
largely  retrospective  that  it  has  been  well  called  the  Resto- 
ration, yet  its  foreign  policy  shows  little  consideration  for 
the  past.  In  sharp  contrast  with  the  attempted  restoration 
and  especially  with  the  national  exclusiveness,  now  more 
intense  than  ever,  was  the  foreign  policy  of  Psamtik  I.  The 

>  Sep  above,  pp.  356-58. 


Fig.  184.— ALABASTER  STATUE  OF  AMENARDIS,  SISTER  OF  PIANKHI.    CAIRO  MUSEUM. 


THE  RESTORATION 


577 


reorganization  of  ordered  and  centralized  government,  and 
the  restoration  of  the  elaborate  irrigation  system,  were  quite 
sufficient  to  ensure  the  internal  prosperity  of  the  country 
along  traditional  lines.  But  Psamtik's  early  life  and  train- 
ing led  him  to  do  more  than  this.  He  had  personally  seen 
the  great  arteries  of  trade  throbbing  from  one  end  to  the 
other  of  the  vast  Assyrian  Empire;  he  comprehended  the 
great  economic  value  of  foreign  traffic  to  the  nation  he  was 
building  up ;  nor  did  he  fail  to  perceive  that  such  traffic  might 
be  variously  taxed  and  made  to  yield  very  considerable  rev- 
enues for  his  own  treasury.  He  therefore  revived  the  old 
connections  with  Syria;  Phoenician  galleys  filled  the  Nile 
mouths,  and  Semitic  merchants,  forerunners  of  the  Ara- 
maeans so  numerous  in  Persian  times,  thronged  the  Delta. 
If  Psamtik  was  able  to  employ  the  Greeks  in  his  army  he 
found  them  not  less  useful  in  the  furtherance  of  his  com- 
mercial projects.  From  the  eighth*  century  B.  C.  those 
•southern  movements  of  the  northerners,  of  which  the  incur- 
sions of  the  "  sea-peoples ' 1  over  five  hundred  years  earlier1 
were  the  premonitory  symptom,  had  now  become  daily 
occurrences.  The  Greeks,  pushing  in  from  the  far  North, 
and  emerging  clearly  for  the  first  time  into  history,  had 
long  since  gained  possession  of  the  Greek  peninsula  and  its 
adjacent  archipelago,  with  their  centres  of  Mycaenean  civi- 
lization, and  they  now  appeared  as  prosperous  communities 
and  rapidly  growing  maritime  states,  whose  fleets,  pene- 
trating throughout  the  Mediterranean,  offered  the  Phoeni- 
cians sharp  and  incessant  competition.  Their  colonies  and 
industrial  settlements,  with  active  manufactories,  rapidly 
fringed  the  Mediterranean  and  penetrated  the  Black  Sea. 
Psamtik  was  probably  the  first  of  the  Egyptian  rulers  who 
favoured  such  colonies  in  Egypt.  Ere  long  the  country 
was  filled  with  Greek  merchants,  and  their  manufacturing 
settlements  were  permitted,  especially  in  the  western  Delta, 
near  the  royal  residence  at  Sais.  There  was  a  Greek  and 
also  a  Carian  quarter  in  Memphis,  and  not  unlikely  other 

1  See  pp.  477-83. 
37 


578 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


large  cities  were  similarly  apportioned  to  accommodate  for- 
eigners, especially  Greeks. 

Lines  of  communication  between  the  Greek  states  and 
Egypt  soon  established  direct,  continuous  and  in  some  re- 
spects intimate  relations  between  them.  Greek  recruits  for 
the  army  of  course  followed  constantly  upon  those  whom 
Psamtik  had  employed  in  his  conquest,  and  these,  with  the 
active  intercourse  of  the  indefatigable  Greek  merchants,  car- 
ried back  to  the  mother-country  an  ever  increasing  fund  of 
folk-tales,  telling  of  the  wondrous  Egyptian  world,  which 
was  so  new  and  strange  to  them.  The  marvels  of  Thebes 
were  celebrated  in  the  Homeric  songs,  now  assuming  their 
final  form,  and  Egyptian  gods  appeared  in  their  myths. 

Ultimately  the  Greeks  became  very  familiar  with  the 
externals  of  Egyptian  civilization,  but  they  never  learned  to 
read  its  curious  writing  sufficiently  well  to  understand  its 
surviving  records,  or  to  learn  the  truth  as  to  its  ancient  his- 
tory. As  time  passed  a  body  of  interpreters  arose,  who 
became  so  numerous  as  to  form  a  recognized  class.  By 
these  such  questioners  as  Herodotus  were  often  grossly  im- 
posed upon.  The  impenetrable  reserve  of  the  Egyptians, 
and  again  their  unlimited  claims,  profoundly  impressed  the 
imaginative  Greek.  This  impression  could  only  be  deep- 
ened by  the  marvels  with  which  the  land  was  filled:  the 
enormous  buildings  and  temples,  whose  construction  was 
often  a  mystery  to  him;  the  mystic  writing  which  covered 
their  walls ;  the  strange  river,  unlike  any  he  had  ever  seen ; 
the  remarkable  religion,  whose  mysterious  ritual  seemed  to 
him  the  cloak  for  the  most  profound  truths ;  the  unquestion- 
ably vast  antiquity  of  countless  impressive  monuments  all 
about  him ;  all  this,  where  an  unprejudiced,  objective  study 
of  the  people  and  their  history  was  impossible,  inevitably 
blinded  even  the  Greek  of  the  highest  intelligence  and  cul- 
ture, who  now  visited  the  country.  Thus  the  real  char- 
acter of  the  Egyptian  and  his  civilization  was  never  cor- 
rectly understood  by  the  Greeks,  and  their  writings  regard- 
ing the  Nile  country,  even  though  often  ridiculing  its  strange 


THE  RESTORATION 


579 


customs,  have  transmitted  to  us  a  false  impression  as  to 
the  value  especially  of  its  intellectual  achievements.  The 
Greek,  with  his  insatiable  thirst  for  the  truth,  and  his  con- 
stant attitude  of  healthy  inquiry,  was  vastly  superior,  I 
need  hardly  say,  to  the  Egyptian,  whose  reputed  wisdom 
he  so  venerated.  Under  these  circumstances  it  was  only  the 
later  political  history  of  the  country,  the  course  of  which 
came  under  their  own  immediate  observation,  with  which 
the  Greeks  were  familiar.  From  the  time  of  Psamtik  I  we 
possess  a  fund  of  popular  Greek  tradition  regarding  the 
Twenty  Sixth  Dynasty,  which,  if  properly  used,  throws  an 
invaluable  light  upon  a  time  when  native  records  and  monu- 
ments, located  as  they  were  in  the  exposed  Delta,  have  almost 
entirely  perished. 

Before  the  impact  of  the  foreign  life,  which  thus  flowed 
in  upon  Egypt,  the  Egyptian  showed  himself  entirely 
unmoved,  and  held  himself  aloof,  fortified  behind  his  cere- 
monial purity  and  his  inviolable  reserve.  If  he  could  have 
had  his  way  he  would  have  banished  the  foreigners  one  and 
all  from  his  shores ;  under  the  circumstances,  like  the  modern 
Chinese,  he  trafficked  with  them  and  was  reconciled  to  their 
presence  by  the  gain  they  brought  him.  Thus  while  the 
Saitic  Pharaohs,  as  we  shall  further  see,  were  profoundly 
influenced  by  the  character  of  the  Greeks,  the  mass  of  the 
Egyptians  were  unscathed  by  it.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Greeks  must  have  profited  much  by  the  intercourse  with 
Nile  valley  civilization,  although  it  will  have  been  chiefly 
material  profit  which  they  gained.  They  found  there,  per- 
fected and  ready  at  hand,  the  technical  processes,  which 
their  unique  genius  was  so  singularly  able  to  apply  to  the 
realization  of  higher  ends  than  those  governing  the  older 
civilizations.  They  certainly  borrowed  artistic  forms  in 
plenty,  and  the  artistic  influences  from  the  Nile,  which  had 
been  felt  in  the  Mycensean  centres  of  civilizations  as  far 
back  at  least  as  the  Twelfth  Dynasty  (2000  B.  C),  were  still 
a  power  in  the  same  regions  of  the  North.  It  can  be  no 
accident,  in  spite  of  the  wide  spread  'law  of  frontality,5 


580 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


that  the  archaic  (so-called)  Apollos  reproduce  the  standing 
posture  prevalent  in  Egypt  in  every  detail,  including 
the  characteristic  thrusting  forward  of  the  left  foot.  Of 
the  Saitic  portrait  sculptor,  the  Greeks  might  have  learned 
much,  even  far  down  toward  the  days  of  their  highest 
artistic  achievements.  Evidence  of  intellectual  influence  is 
more  elusive,  but  there  is  a  grain  of  truth  in  the  Greek  tra- 
dition that  they  received  their  philosophy  from  Egypt.  The 
philosophizing  theology  of  the  Egyptian  priests  contained 
suggestive  germs,  which  may  easily  have  found  their  way 
into  the  early  Ionian  systems.  The  notion  of  the  primeval 
intelligence  and  the  creative  "word,"  already  conceived  as 
far  back  as  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty,1  could  hardly  fail  to 
influence  the  educated  Greeks  who  very  early  visited  Egypt, 
long  before  such  a  conception  had  arisen  in  Greece.  The 
insistent  belief  of  the  Egyptian  in  the  life  hereafter  and  his 
elaborate  mortuary  usages,  unquestionably  exerted  a  strong 
influence  upon  Greek  and  Roman  alike;  and  the  wide  dis- 
semination of  Egyptian  religion  in  the  classic  world,  dem- 
onstrates the  deep  impression  which  it  now  made.  To  this 
day  its  symbols  are  turned  up  by  the  spade  throughout 
the  Mediterranean  basin.  It  was  under  Psamtik  I  that  these 
influences  from  Egypt  began  to  be  felt  by  the  states,  which 
were  then  laying  the  foundations  of  later  European  civiliza- 
tion ;  and  it  is  significant  as  an  indication  of  the  great  restor- 
er's  personal  prestige  in  the  Greek  world  that  the  powerful 
Periander  of  Corinth  named  his  nephew  and  successor 
Psammetichos. 

By  640  B.  C.  Psamtik  felt  himself  strong  enough  to  resume 
the  old  projects  of  conquest  in  Asia,  to  revive  Egypt's  tradi- 
tional claims  upon  Syria-Palestine,  and  to  dispute  their  pos- 
session with  Assyria.  He  invaded  Philistia  and  for  many 
years  besieged  Ashdod ;  but  his  ambitions  there  were  rudely 
dashed  by  the  influx  of  Scythian  peoples  from  the  far  north, 
who  overran  Assyria  and  penetrated  southward  to  the  fron- 
tier of  Egypt.    According  to  Herodotus  they  were  bought 

»  See  above,  pp.  356-58. 


THE  RESTORATION 


581 


off  by  Psamtik,  who  by  liberal  gifts  succeeded  thus  in  ran- 
soming his  kingdom.  It  was  more  probably  his  own  strong 
arm  that  delivered  his  land.  He  had  already  saved  it  from 
centuries  of  weakness  and  decay,  and  when  he  died  after  a 
reign  of  fifty  four  years,  he  left  Egypt  enjoying  such  peace- 
able prosperity  as  had  not  been  hers  since  the  death  of 
Ramses  III,  five  hundred  years  before. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

THE  FINAL  STRUGGLES:   BABYLON  AND  PERSIA 

When  Necho  succeeded  his  father  Psamtik  I  on  the  throne 
of  Egypt  in  609  B.  C,  there  seemed  to  be  nothing  to  prevent 
his  reestablishment  of  the  Egyptian  Empire  in  Asia.  As 
Psamtik 's  kingdom  had  prospered,  that  of  the  once  powerful 
Ninevites  had  rapidly  declined.  From  the  fearful  visita- 
tion of  the  Scythian  hordes  in  the  reign  of  Psamtik  I,  it 
never  recovered,  and  when  Babylon  made  common  cause  with 
Cyaxares,  king  of  the  rising  Median  states,  Nineveh  was 
unable  to  withstand  their  united  assaults.  Its  inevitable 
fall  was  anticipated  by  the  western  peoples,  and  being  clearly 
foreseen  by  the  Hebrew,  Nahum,  he  exultingly  predicted  its 
destruction.  At  the  accession  of  Necho  it  was  in  such  a 
state  of  collapse  that  he  immediately  began  the  realization 
of  his  father's  imperial  designs  in  Asia.  He  built  a  war- 
fleet  both  in  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Red  Sea,  and  in 
his  first  year  invaded  Philistia.  Gaza  and  Askalon,  which 
offered  resistance,  were  taken  and  punished,1  and  with  a 
great  army  Necho  then  pushed  northward.  In  Judah,  now 
freed  from  the  Assyrians,  the  prophetic  party  was  in  the 
ascendancy.  As  they  had  been  delivered  from  Sennacherib 
nearly  a  century  before,  so  they  fondly  believed  they  might 
now  face  Egypt  with  the  same  assurance  of  deliverance.  On 
the  historic  plain  of  Megiddo,  where  Egypt  had  first  won  the 
supremacy  of  Asia  nearly  nine  hundred  years  before,  the 
young  Josiah  recklessly  threw  himself  upon  Necho 's  great 
army.  His  pitiful  force  was  quickly  routed  and  he  himself, 
fatally  wounded,  retired  to  die  at  Jerusalem.  Expecting 
to  meet  at  least  some  attempt  on  the  part  of  Assyria  to  save 
her  western  dominions,  Necho  pressed  on  to  the  Euphrates 

i  Jer.  47,  1  and  5. 

582 


THE  FINAL  STRUGGLES :  BABYLON  AND  PERSIA  583 


without  delay.  But  Assyria  was  now  too  near  her  end  to 
make  even  the  feeblest  effort  to  stay  his  progress ;  he  found 
no  army  there  to  meet  him,  and  not  feeling  himself  strong 
enough  to  advance  against  Nineveh,  he  returned  southward, 
having  gained  all  Syria,  and  at  one  stroke  recovered  the 
whole  of  the  old  Egyptian  conquests  of  the  Empire.  Arriv- 
ing at  Ribleh  on  the  Orontes,  three  months  after  the  battle 
of  Megiddo,  he  sent  for  Josiah's  son,  Jehoahaz,  whom  the 
Judeans  had  placed  upon  his  father's  throne,  and  threw  him 
into  chains.  He  then  installed  Eliakim,  another  son  of 
Josiah,  as  king  of  Judah  under  the  name  Jehoiakim,  and 
imposed  upon  him  a  tribute  of  one  hundred  talents  of  silver 
and  one  of  gold.  The  unfortunate  Jehoahaz  was  carried 
to  Egypt  by  the  Pharaoh  and  died  there.  It  is  characteristic 
of  the  altered  spirit  of  the  times  that  Necho  dedicated  to  the 
Milesian  Branchidas  the  corselet  which  he  had  worn  on  this 
victorious  campaign,— of  course  in  recognition  of  the  Greek 
mercenaries,  to  whom  he  owed  his  successes.  How  different 
all  this  from  the  days  of  Amon's  supremacy,  when  victory 
came  from  him  alone!  Fragments  of  a  stela  dating  from 
Necho 's  supremacy  in  Syria  and  bearing  his  name  in  hiero- 
glyphic, have  been  found  at  Sidon.1 

Necho 's  new  Asiatic  empire  was  not  of  long  duration.  In 
less  than  two  years  the  combined  forces  of  Nabopolassar, 
the  king  of  Babylon,  and  of  the  Medes  under  Cyaxares,  had 
accomplished  the  overthrow  of  Nineveh.  The  city  was 
destroyed  and  the  nation  utterly  annihilated  as  a  political 
force.  The  two  conquerors  divided  the  territory  made  avail- 
able by  their  conquest,  the  Mede  taking  the  north  and  north- 
east and  the  Babylonian  the  south  and  southwest.  Thus 
Syria  fell  by  inheritance  to  Nabopolassar.  He  was  now  old 
and  unable  to  undertake  its  recovery;  but  he  quickly  dis- 
patched his  son,  Nebuchadrezzar,  to  oppose  Necho.  Hear: 
ing  of  his  coming,  Necho  was  wise  enough  to  collect  his  forces 
and  hasten  to  meet  him  at  the  northern  frontier  on  the  Eu- 
phrates in  605  B.  C.    At  Carchemish  the  motley  army  of 

'  Proceedings  Soc.  of  Biblical  Arch.,  XVI  (1894),  pp.  91  f. 


584 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


the  Pharaoh  was  completely  routed  by  the  Babylonians. 
The  victory  was  so  decisive  that  Necho  did  not  attempt  to 
make  another  stand  or  to  save  Palestine,  but  retreated  in 
haste  to  the  Delta  followed  by  Nebuchadrezzar.  The  igno- 
minious retreat  of  Necho 's  proud  army,  as  it  hurried  through 
Palestine,  created  a  profound  impression  among  the  Hebrews 
of  Judah,  and  Jeremiah,  who  was  interpreting  to  his  people 
in  Jerusalem  the  movements  of  the  nations,  hurled  after  the 
discomfited  Egyptians  his  burden  of  sarcasm  and  derision.1 
Had  not  the  young  Kaldean  prince  now  been  summoned  to 
Babylon  by  the  death  of  his  father,  the  conquest  of  Egypt, 
or  at  least  its  further  humiliation,  must  inevitably  have  fol- 
lowed. Unwilling  to  prolong  his  absence  from  the  capital 
under  these  circumstances,  Nebuchadrezzar  came  to  an  un- 
derstanding with  Necho,  and  returned  home  to  assume  the 
crown  of  Babylon.  Thus  Syria-Palestine  became  Baby- 
lonian dominion. 

Necho 's  agreement  with  Babylon  involved  the  relinquish- 
ment of  his  ambitious  designs  in  Asia.  He  held  to  the  com- 
pact, and  made  no  further  attempt  to  maintain  Egyptian 
sovereignty  there,  as  the  Hebrew  annals  record:  ' ' And  the 
king  of  Egypt  came  not  again  any  more  out  of  his  land :  for 
the  king  of  Babylon  had  taken  from  the  brook  of  Egypt  unto 
the  river  Euphrates,  all  that  pertained  to  the  king  of 
Egypt."2  He  even  made  no  effort  to  intervene  when 
Nebuchadrezzar  besieged  and  captured  Jerusalem  and  de- 
ported the  chief  families  of  Judah  in  596  B.  C.  The  Phar- 
aoh's energies  were  now  employed  in  the  furtherance  of  his 
father's  commercial  enterprises.  He  attempted  to  reexca- 
vate  the  ancient  canal  from  the  Delta,  connecting  the  eastern 
arm  of  the  Nile  with  the  Red  Sea.  Herodotus  claims  that 
one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  men  perished  in  this  enter- 
prise, from  which  the  Pharaoh  at  last  desisted,  in  response 
to  an  oracle ;  while  Diodorus  avers  that  the  king 's  engineers 
warned  him  of  the  danger  of  flooding  Egypt,  demonstrating 
that  the  Red  Sea  was  higher  than  the  Delta.    This  was  prob- 

i  Jer.  46:  1-12.  2 II  Kings  24:  7. 


THE  FINAL  STRUGGLES:  BABYLON  AND  PERSIA  585 


ably  the  real  motive  for  discontinuing  so  important  a  work; 
maritime  connection  between  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Mediter- 
ranean by  way  of  the  Nile  would  have  been  of  incalculable 
commercial  benefit  to  Egypt  at  this  time,  and  would  also 
have  involved  valuable  strategic  advantages  in  case  of  war. 
Necho's  interest  in  maritime  progress  is  further  evidenced 
by  his  famous  exploring  expedition.  He  dispatched  a  crew 
of  Phoenician  mariners  with  instructions  to  sail  around 
Africa,  or  as  Herodotus  calls  it,  Libya.  As  the  Egyptians 
had  from  the  earliest  time  supposed  their  land  to  be  sur- 
rounded by  sea,  the  Oceanos  of  the  Greeks,  with  which  the 
Nile  had  connection  in  the  south,  the  feat  of  the  Phoenicians, 
which  they  actually  accomplished  in  three  years,  excited  no 
surprise. 

Psamtik  II,  who  followed  his  father  Necho  about  593  B. 
C,  either  regarded  Egypt's  prospects  in  Asia  as  hopeless 
or  continued  the  compact  of  his  father  with  Babylon.  Un- 
able to  accomplish  anything  in  the  North,  he  turned  his 
attention  southward  and  attempted  the  recovery  of  Nubia, 
lost  to  Egypt  since  the  foundation  of  the  Ethiopian  king- 
dom. He  invaded  lower  Nubia,  and  an  advanced  body  of 
his  troops  pushed  up  almost  to  the  second  cataract,  where 
they  left  a  record  of  their  visit  at  Abu  Simbel,  in  a  Greek 
inscription  on  one  of  the  colossi  of  Ramses  II,  before  his 
great  temple  there.  Although,  as  we  have  before  remarked, 
this  invasion  doubtless  furnished  the  Ethiopians  a  further 
reason  for  transferring  their  capital  above  the  cataracts  to 
Meroe,  yet  the  results  of  the  expedition  were  probably  not 
lasting,  and  Lower  Nubia  never  became  an  integral  part  of 
tke  Saite  kingdom.  Relations  with  the  Greeks  continued 
on  the  old  friendly  basis  and  Herodotus  relates  how  the 
Eleans  sent  a  delegation  to  Psamtik  II  to  obtain  his  judg- 
ment on  the  fairness  of  their  management  of  the  Olympian 
games.  At  home  he  continued  the  Saitic  control  of  Thebes 
by  arranging  for  the  adoption  of  his  daughter,  Enekhnes- 
nefribre,  by  his  aged  aunt,  the  daughter  of  Psamtik  I, 
Nitocris,  who  still  survived  as  Divine  Votress  or  sacerdotal 


586 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


princess  of  Thebes.  Psamtik  II  conferred  upon  his  daughter 
the  title  '  ■  High  Priest  of  Amon, ' '  and  she  received  the  for- 
tune of  Nitocris,  who  died  nine  years  afterward.  She  con- 
tinued in  control  of  Thebes  until  the  advent  of  the  Persians 
nearly  seventy  years  later.1 

Meanwhile  the  Saites  were  still  casting  longing  eyes  upon 
the  ancient  dominions  of  Egypt  in  Asia,  and  when  Apries 
(the  Ha'abre'  of  the  Egyptians,  or  Hophra'  of  the  Hebrews) 
succeeded  his  father  Psamtik  II  early  in  588  B.  C,  he  imme- 
diately resumed  the  old  designs  of  his  house  to  recover  them. 
Already  under  Necho,  in  597  B.  C,  as  we  have  seen,  Nebu- 
chadrezzar had  been  obliged  to  advance  on  Jerusalem  in 
consequence  of  the  rebellion  of  Jehoiachin,  an  event  in  which 
Necho  may  have  secretly  had  a  hand.  The  next  year  the 
unhappy  city  capitulated,  and  some  nine  or  ten  thousand 
of  the  better  class  were  deported  to  Babylonia,  leaving  only 
1 i the  poorest  sort  of  the  people  of  the  land."2  Jehoichin's 
uncle,  Zedekiah,  was  appointed  by  Nebuchadrezzar  as  king 
over  the  afflicted  land.  When  he  had  been  ruling  nine  years 
we  find  him  in  revolt  against  Babylon.  The  reasons  for  this 
foolish  policy  are  quite  evident.  The  date  of  his  rebellion, 
coincides  with  the  accession  of  Apries.  Tyre  and  Sidon, 
Moab  and  Ammon  had  also  sent  their  emissaries  to  the 
Judean  king,  and  when  the  weighty  influence  of  Apries  also 
fell  into  the  scales  the  vacillating  Zedekiah  was  no  longer 
able  to  withstand,  and  he  half-heartedly  joined  the  rest  in 
casting  off  the  sovereignty  of  Babylon.  The  events  for- 
merly following  similar  revolts  from  Assyrian  authority 
were  now  reenacted  under  the  Babylonians ;  the  allies  were 
unable  to  act  quickly  in  concert.  Indeed  Apries  made  it  im- 
possible that  they  should  do  so  by  attacking  Tyre  and  Sidon. 
He  dispatched  an  expedition  to  attempt  the  conquest  of  the 
north  by  sea,  perhaps  hoping  to  meet  Nebuchadrezzar  on 
the  Euphrates  as  his  grandfather  Necho  had  done.  He 
fought  a  victorious  naval  engagement  with  the  Tyrians  and 
Cyprians  and  landed  enough  troops  to  take  Sidon,  where- 
upon the  other  Phoenician  cities  yielded.3    It  is  possible 

*  IV,  988  A-988  J.  2  IT  Kings  24:  15.  'Diodorus,  I,  68. 


THE  FINAL  STRUGGLES :  BABYLON  AND  PERSIA  o87 


also  that  he  hoped  thus  to  divert  Nebuchadrezzar  from  the 
south  where  a  portion  of  his  army  had  appeared  early  in 
587,  or  to  cut  off  this  southern  army  now  operating  against 
Jerusalem;  and  if  so,  the  movement  was  brilliantly  con- 
ceived. But  it  was  never  pushed  far  enough  to  accomplish 
anything  inland;  and  Nebuchadrezzar  wisely  fixed  his  base 
of  operations  well  northward,  at  Eibleh  on  the  Orontes, 
where  he  was  able  to  contemplate  the  Egyptian  operations 
without  concern.  His  enemies  were  exhausting  themselves 
against  each  other,  and  had  Apries  advanced  inland  Nebu- 
chadrezzar could  have  quickly  confronted  him  with  a  force 
from  Ribleh.  It  is  perhaps  during  this  brief  supremacy 
of  the  Pharaoh  in  Phoenicia  that  we  should  place  the  frag- 
mentary Egyptian  monuments,  pieces  of  stone  statues,  altars 
and  bits  of  inscribed  stone  from  the  Saite  age,  found  by 
Renan  at  Arvad,  Tyre  and  Sidon.1  Now  also  the  Pharaoh 
apparently  controlled  for  a  time  a  domain  in  Lebanon.2 

When  in  the  spring  of  586  B.  C.  the  troops  of  Apries  at  last 
appeared  in  the  south  to  threaten  the  Babylonian  besiegers 
of  Jerusalem,  they  brought  the  beleagured  city  a  brief  mo- 
ment's respite  only;  for  the  Egyptian  forces  again  showed 
themselves  unable  to  cope  with  the  armies  of  Asia.  Indeed, 
it  is  possible  that  Apries  relinquished  his  claims  in  Palestine 
without  a  blow.  Thus  the  predictions  of  Jeremiah,  who  had 
constantly  proclaimed  the  folly  of  depending  upon  assist- 
ance from  Egypt,  were  brilliantly  confirmed;  but  the  un- 
happy prophet  paid  dearly  for  the  sanity  of  his  statesman- 
like views  and  barely  escaped  with  his  life.  In  the  summer 
of  586  B.  C.  Jerusalem  fell ;  it  was  razed  to  the  ground  and 
the  inglorious  Zedekiah,  having  been  taken  to  Nebuchad- 
rezzar's camp  at  Ribleh,  was  blinded,  after  witnessing  the 
slaughter  of  his  sons.  The  Judean  nation  was  annihilated, 
but  no  decisive  blow  had  been  struck  which  might  cripple 
the  power  of  Egypt,  the  instigator  of  the  trouble.  It  was 
not  for  many  years  that  Nebuchadrezzar  was  able  to  attempt 
anything  in  this  direction ;  his  first  obligation  being  the  pun- 

■  Rouge,  letter  to  Renan,  Revue  arch.  n.  s.,  VII,  18631,  pp.  194-8, 
2  IV,  970. 


588 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


ishment  of  Tyre,  which  maintained  itself  for  thirteen  years, 
finally  yielding  in  573  B.  C. 

In  spite  of  ill  success  in  Asia,  Apries  enjoyed  unbounded 
prosperity  in  the  internal  administration  of  his  realm,  and 
the  kingdom  flourished  as  only  under  his  great  grandfather, 
its  founder.  From  the  west  also  he  received  the  revenues  of 
the  Oasis  region  and  in  the  Northern  Oasis  his  official  Wah- 
ibrenofer  built  a  temple.1  But  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  his 
wealth  and  splendour  a  tragic  end  was  awaiting  him  from 
an  unexpected  quarter.  He  found  great  difficulty  in  bridling 
his  troops,  of  whatever  nationality.  On  one  occasion  the 
Libyans,  Greeks  and  Syrians  attempted  to  desert  and  mi- 
grate to  Nubia,  as  in  the  days  of  Psamtik  I  a  body  of  the 
warrior-class  had  done.  How  many  were  involved  in  this 
revolt  under  Apries  it  is  impossible  to  establish,  but  they 
were  sufficiently  numerous  to  render  the  king  very  appre- 
hensive, and  the  record  of  the  event  distinctly  states  that 
"his  majesty  f eared.' '  As  the  deserters  approached  the 
first  cataract  Nesuhor,  the  governor  of  Assuan,  an  astute 
official,  succeeded  in  dissuading  them  from  their  purpose 
and  delivering  them  to  the  king  who  then  punished  them.2 
Another  misunderstanding  with  the  native  warrior-class  did 
not  end  so  happily.  The  new  Greek  settlement  at  Cyrene 
was  growing  into  a  flourishing  state  and  encroaching  upon 
the  Libyans  who  lay  between  Cyrene  and  Egypt.  Apries 
deemed  it  wise  to  check  the  development  of  the  Greek  colony 
and  sent  to  the  aid  of  the  Libyans  a  body  of  Egyptian  troops 
naturally  not  including  among  them  any  of  his  Greek  mer- 
cenaries. Despising  their  adversaries,  the  Egyptians  ad- 
vanced in  careless  confidence,  but  were  totally  defeated  and 
almost  annihilated  by  the  Cyrenian  Greeks.  Smarting  un- 
der their  discomfiture  they  were  so  filled  with  resentment 
toward  Apries  that  they  concluded  he  had  dispatched  them 
against  Cyrene  with  the  purpose  of  ridding  himself  of  them. 
A  revolt  of  the  warrior-class  followed,  which  swelled  to 
dangerous  proportions.    Apries  thereupon  commissioned 

*Steindorff,  Berichte  der  phil.-hist.  Classe  der  Konigl.  Sachs,  Gesellschaft 
der  Wissenschaften  zu  Leipzig,  1900,  p.  226.  *  IV,  98&. 


THE  FINAL  STRUGGLES:  BABYLON  AND  PERSIA  ^89 


one  Ahmose,  or  Amasis,  as  Herodotus  calk  him,  a  relative 
of  the  royal  house,  to  conciliate  the  revolters  and  curb  them 
into  submission.  Amasis  was  a  chamberlain  or  marshal  of 
the  palace,  and  besides  this  office  at  court  he  held  an  impor- 
tant judicial  position.  Being  a  person  of  unusual  shrewd- 
ness and  insight,  his  selection  at  this  time  might  equally 
well  have  been  the  salvation  or  the  ruin  of  Apries.  So 
skilfully  did  Amasis  manipulate  the  situation  that  the  dis- 
affected soldiery  soon  proclaimed  him  king,  and  a  messenger 
of  Apries,  sent  to  recall  the  traitor,  was  dismissed  with  in- 
sult and  contumely.  The  enraged  Pharaoh  was  now  so 
foolish  as  to  expend  his  wrath  on  the  luckless  messenger 
who,  although  he  was  a  man  of  rank,  immediately  suffered 
the  loss  of  nose  and  ears.  Seeing  one  of  their  colleagues  so 
unjustly  punished,  many  of  Apries'  nobles  and  adherents 
forsook  him  and  espoused  the  cause  of  Amasis.  Herodotus 
narrates  that  a  battle  now  ensued  in  which  the  Greek  mer- 
cenaries of  Apries,  heavily  outnumbered  by  the  native 
troops  of  Amasis,  were  beaten  and  Apries  taken  prisoner. 
It  is  possible  that  he  is  here  confusing  the  situation  with  the 
later  battle  which,  as  we  know  from  a  contemporary  docu- 
ment, occurred  between  the  forces  of  the  two  rivals.  How- 
ever this  may  be,  Amasis,  while  treating  Apries  with  kind- 
ness and  not  yet  dethroning  him,  laid  a  vigourous  hand  upon 
the  sceptre.  A  coregency  ensued  in  which  Apries  doubtless 
played  but  a  feeble  part;  and  a  monument  or  two  showing 
the  two  rulers  together  has  survived.  Alongside  the  car- 
touche, which  he  now  assumed,  Amasis  continued  to  bear 
the  old  titles  belonging  to  his  former  less  exalted  offices.1 
In  the  third  year  of  the  coregency,  however,  a  struggle 
between  the  two  regents  arose.  Apries,  as  Herodotus  knew, 
gained  the  adherence  of  the  Greeks,  and  with  an  army  oi 
these  mercenaries,  supported  by  a  fleet,  advanced  upon  Sais 
from  the  North.  Amasis  quickly  collected  his  forces  and  at- 
tacked, putting  Apries  and  his  army  to  flight  and  scattering 
them  far  and  wide.    As  they  continued  for  some  months  to 

i IV,  990  t 


590 


A   HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


rove  the  North,  infesting  the  roads,  and  of  course  living  by 
plunder,  Amasis  dispatched  a  force  against  tnem.  It  would 
seem  that  Apries  had  meantime  been  a  fugitive.  In  any  case, 
he  was  slain  during  this  pursuit,  while  taking  his  ease  on  one 
of  the  surviving  vessels  of  his  fleet.  Amasis  gave  him  hon- 
ourable burial,  befitting  a  king,  among  his  ancestors  in  Sais, 
and  established  for  him  mortuary  offerings  endowed  with  a 
liberal  revenue.1 

It  might  have  been  supposed  that  Amasis,  who  owed  his 
crown  to  an  ebullition  of  national  feeling,  as  opposed  to  the 
partiality  shown  the  Greeks,  would  now  have  evinced  his 
appreciation  of  this  indebtedness  in  a  marked  reaction 
against  foreign  influence;  but  for  this  he  was  too  sagacious 
a  statesman.  While  seeming  to  curtail  the  privileges  of  the 
Greeks,  he  really  gave  to  them  all  they  wanted.  The  Greek 
merchants,  who  had  hitherto  enjoyed  unlimited  latitude  in 
their  selection  of  a  field  for  their  merchandizing,  were  now 
not  allowed  to  land  anywhere  in  the  Delta,  save  at  a  city 
appointed  for  them  by  Amasis.  On  the  Canopic  mouth  of 
the  Nile  in  the  western  Delta,  at  a  place  where  there  was 
probably  an  older  settlement  of  but  slight  importance, 
Amasis  founded  the  new  city  of  Naucratis  as  a  home  and 
market  for  the  Greeks,  which  they  speedily  made  the  most 
important  commercial  centre  of  Egypt,  if  not  of  the  whole 
Mediterranean.  It  was  in  all  essentials  a  Greek  city,  and 
the  wares  which  were  manufactured  within  its  walls  were, 
with  but  slight  exceptions,  in  no  sense  Egyptian.  The  busy 
life  which  throbbed  in  its  thronging  markets  and  factories, 
the  constitution  of  the  city  and  its  daily  administration,  were 
just  such  as  prevailed  in  any  industrial  and  commercial 
Greek  community  of  the  mother  country.  All  the  Greeks 
were  concerned  more  or  less  in  its  success  and  prosperity. 
Hence  when  the  chief  temple  of  Naucratis  was  to  be  erected, 
the  Ionian  cities  of  Chios,  Teos,  Phocaea  and  Clazomenae, 
with  Ehodes,  Cnidus,  Halicarnassus  and  Phaselis  of  the 
Dorians,  and  the  iEolian  Mitylene,  together  contributed  a 

i  IV,  99G  ff. 


THE  FINAL  STRUGGLES:  BABYLON  AND  PERSIA  591 


common  fund  to  erect  the  Hellenium,  a  large  and  stately 
sanctuary,  with  a  spacious  enclosure,  protected  by  a  massive 
wall.  The  powerful  states  cf  iEgina,  Miletus  and  Samos, 
however,  were  able  ti  possess  each  a  temple  of  their  own. 
Thus  T/hilo  apparently :  zstricted,  the  Greeks  were  still  enjoy- 
ing the  greatest  privileges  in  Egypt,  nor  did  the  regulations 
of  Amasis  ever  impress  then  a-  hostile  to  their  welfare  in 
his  land.  When  an  embassy  of  the  Delphians  approached 
him  for  a  contribution  toward  the  erection  of  their  temple, 
which  had  been  burned  (548  B.  C),  he  responded  liberally. 
He  sent  gifts  likewise  to  the  temples  of  Lindos,  Samos  and 
Cyrene,  and  presented  r»  magnificent  corselet  to  the  Spartans. 
He  thus  maintained  close  relations  with  the  Greek  world  in 
Europe  and  Asia,  and  with  the  wealthy  and  powerful  Poly- 
crates  of  Samos  he  sustained  a  friendship  which  amounted 
to  an  alliance.  He  was  always  very  popular  with  the  Greeks, 
both  at  home  and  abroad,  and  many  tales  of  his  career  and 
personal  character  circulated  among  them. 

Unfortunately  it  is  almost  solely  in  his  dealings  with  the 
Greeks  that  we  know  anything  of  the  achievements  of 
Amasis.  He  did  not  neglect  his  interests  among  the  Egyp- 
tians, as  in  view  of  the  catastrophe  which  had  overtaken 
Apries,  he  was  not  likely  to  do.  He  built  splendid  addi- 
tions to  the  temples  of  Sais  and  Memphis,  and  a  vast  mono- 
lithic chapel  from  the  quarries  of  the  first  cataract,  which  he 
set  up  in  Sais,  excited  the  admiration  of  Herodotus.  The 
people  enjoyed  the  greatest  prosperity,  and  Herodotus  avers 
that  the  land  "  contained  at  that  time  twenty  thousand 
cities. ' '  He  again  revised  the  system  of  laws,  one  of  which, 
demanding  that  every  inhabitant  "should  annually  declare 
to  the  governor  of  his  district  by  what  means  he  maintained 
himself,"  was  adopted  by  Solon  on  his  visit  to  Egypt,  and 
enforced  at  Athens.  But  eventually  his  evident  liking  for 
the  Greeks  could  not  escape  the  notice  of  the  Egyptian  party. 
He  had  two  frontier  forts  in  the  northeastern  Delta,1  and 
from  Daphnae,  one  of  these  two,  he  was  obliged  to  transfer 

»IV,  1014. 


592 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


the  Greek  garrison  stationed  there  to  Memphis,  and  thus 
ensure  the  safety  of  the  latter  strong  and  populous  city,  so 
near  his  residence  at  Sais.  He  was  finally  compelled  to 
throw  off  the  mask,  and  for  the  support  of  his  mercenary 
army  and  fleet  to  draw  upon  the  fortunes  and  revenues  of 
the  temples.1  It  was  no  longer  compatible  with  modern 
statesmanship  that  the  priesthoods  should  be  permitted  to 
absorb  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  resources  of  the  land.  A 
navy  such  as  Egypt  now  possessed,  and  the  large  body  of 
mercenaries  in  his  army,  drew  heavily  upon  the  treasury 
of  Amasis;  and  his  curtailment  of  the  temple  incomes  was 
inevitable.  It  was  the  beginning  of  still  more  serious  inroads 
upon  the  temple-estates  in  the  Persian  period,  resulting 
under  the  Ptolemies  in  great  reduction  of  the  priestly  rev- 
enues and  the  taxation  of  the  temple-property.  Politically 
impotent,  the  priesthoods  could  only  swallow  their  discon- 
tent, which,  however,  gradually  permeated  all  the  upper 
classes.  But  Amasis,  with  a  cleverness  which  became 
proverbial,  was  always  able  so  to  manipulate  the  forces  at 
his  command  that  the  Egyptian  party  found  itself  helpless 
and  obliged  to  accede  to  his  wishes. 

The  good  understanding  which  Amasis  constantly  main- 
tained with  the  Greeks  made  him  secure  upon  the  Mediter- 
ranean. In  the  west  he  controlled  the  oases  and  erected  a 
temple  in  the  Northern  Oasis  ;'2  but  he  was  not  so  fortunate 
in  his  relations  with  the  east.  His  usurpation  of  the  crown 
had  furnished  Nebuchadrezzar  with  the  coveted  opportu- 
nity of  humiliating  Egypt,  which  the  Kaldean  naturally 
supposed  would  have  been  weakened  by  the  internal  dissen- 
sions incident  to  such  a  revolution.  Already  before  the 
death  of  Apries  in  568  B.  C,  the  army  of  the  Kaldeans 
appeared  on  the  Delta  frontier,  but  the  course  of  the  subse- 
quent operations  is  unknown.  It  is  not  probable  that  Ne- 
buchadrezzar purposed  the  conquest  of  Egypt,  which  was 
now  in  a  condition  very  different  from  the  state  of  impotent 

*  Revillout,  Revue  egyptologique,  I,  59  ff.,  Ill,  105. 

a  Steindorff,  Berichte  der  phil.-hist.  Classe  der  Konigl.  Sachs,  Gesellschaft 
der  Wissenschaften  zu  Leipzig,  1900,  p.  22$. 


THE  FINAL  STRUGGLES :  BABYLON  AND  PERSIA  593 


anarchy  in  which  the  Assyrians  had  found  it  under  the 
Ethiopians.  In  any  case,  he  did  not  achieve  the  conquest 
of  the  country ;  and  Jeremiah 1  and  Ezekiel,2  who  were 
awaiting  with  feverish  longing  the  complete  overthrow  of 
the  hated  Pharaoh's  kingdom,  must  have  been  sorely  disap- 
pointed that  the  catastrophe  which  they  had  confidently  pre- 
dicted to  their  countrymen  failed  to  occur.  As  a  result  of 
the  campaign,  however,  Amasis  was  obliged  to  renounce  any 
ambitions  which  he  may  have  cherished  for  the  conquest  of 
Syria-Palestine.  His  strong  navy,  nevertheless,  enabled  him 
completely  to  subdue  Cyprus,  which  he  organized  as  an 
Egyptian  dependency,  paying  tribute  to  him.  His  naval 
strength,  which  now  became  formidable,  was  the  foundation 
of  the  sea-power,  which,  under  the  Ptolemies,  made  Egypt 
the  dominant  state  on  the  Mediterranean. 

Meanwhile  Nebuchadrezzar  had  died  (562  B.  C),  and  the 
disappearance  of  his  powerful  personality  distinctly  dimin- 
ished the  prestige  of  the  Babylonian  Empire.  As  internal 
dissensions  arose,  the  alliance  with  the  Medes  was  no  longer 
possible,  and  when  finally  Cyrus  of  Anshan,  a  Persian,  suc- 
ceeded in  supplanting  the  Median  dynasty  by  the  overthrow 
of  the  Median  king,  Astyages  (550  B.  C),  the  position  of 
Babylon  was  critical  in  the  extreme.  The  extraordinary 
career  of  Cyrus  was  now  a  spectacle  upon  which  all  eyes  in 
the  west  were  fastened  with  wonder  and  alarm.  Amasis 
was  fully  alive  to  the  new  danger  which  threatened  his  king- 
dom in  common  with  all  the  other  powers  of  the  West.  He 
therefore  in  547  B.  C.  made  common  cause  with  them,  form- 
ing a  league  with  Croesus  of  Lydia,  and  the  Spartans  in  the 
west;  and  in  the  east  with  Nabuna'id  of  Babylon.  Before 
the  allies  could  move  together,  Croesus  was  defeated  and 
dethroned  (546-5  B.  C.) ;  and  the  overflowing  energies  of 
the  new  conqueror  and  his  people,  fresh  and  unspent  for 
centuries  among  their  native  hills,  were  then  directed  upon 
Babylon,  which  fell  in  539  B.  C.  Amasis  was  powerless  to 
check  their  progress,  while  the  vast  Persian  Empire  was 


i  Jer.  43  :  8-13. 
38 


SEzek.  40:  10-18. 


594 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


being  raised  upon  the  ruins  of  the  Semitic  states  in  the  val- 
ley of  the  two  rivers  and  the  kingdoms  of  Asia  Minor.  It 
was  inevitable  that  the  new  world  power  should  now  look 
toward  Egypt,  and  the  last  years  of  Amasis  must  have  been 
darkened  with  anxious  forebodings  as  he  contemplated  the 
undisputed  supremacy  of  Cyrus.  But  he  was  spared  the 
fate  of  Croesus,  for  when  he  died,  late  in  526  or  early  in  525 
B.  C,  the  impending  catastrophe  had  not  yet  overtaken  his 
kingdom. 

Amasis  had  ample  opportunity  during  his  long  reign  of 
forty  four  years  to  display  his  qualities  as  a  statesman. 
With  his  fertility  of  resource  and  never-failing  cleverness, 
he  belonged  to  and  was  largely  the  product  of  the  Greek 
world.  His  nature  was  fundamentally  opposed  to  the  con- 
ventional and  sacerdotal  conception  of  the  Pharaoh,  which 
so  dominated  the  ancient  kingship  that  its  monuments, 
largely  of  priestly  origin,  force  all  the  Pharaohs  into  the 
same  mould,  and  depict  them  as  rigid  and  colourless  forms, 
each  like  all  the  others,  with  the  same  monotonous  catalogue 
of  divine  attributes.  These  formal  and  priestly  traditions 
of  what  constituted  a  Pharaoh  were  treateu  with  scant  con- 
sideration by  Amasis.  When  he  had  dc  ted  the  morning 
hours  to  the  transaction  of  public  business  '  ;  loved  to  throw 
aside  the  pomp  and  formalities  of  state,  and  gathering  at 
his  table  a  few  choice  friends,  he  gave  himself  without  re- 
serve to  the  enjoyment  of  conviviality,  in  which  wine  played 
no  small  part.  A  thorough  man  of  the  world  of  his  day,  not 
too  refined,  open  to  every  influence  and  to  every  pleasure 
which  did  not  endanger  his  position,  he  showed  himself 
nevertheless  a  statesman  of  the  first  rank.  Of  his  wit  and 
humour  the  Greeks  told  many  a  tale,  while  the  light  and 
skilful  touch  with  which  he  manipulated  men  and  affairs 
won  their  constant  admiration.  But  the  character  and  poli- 
cies of  Amasis  clearly  disclose  the  fact  that  the  old  Egyp- 
tian world,  whose  career  we  have  been  following,  has  already 
ceased  to  be.  Its  vitality,  which  flickered  again  into  a  flame, 
in  the  art  of  the  Saitic  age,  is  now  quenched  forever.  The 


THE  FINAL  STRUGGLES :  BABYLON  AND  PERSIA  595 


Saitic  state  is  but  an  artificial  structure,  skilfully  built  up 
and  sustained  by  sagacious  rulers,  but  that  national  career, 
the  characteristics  of  which  were  determined  by  the  initiative 
and  vital  force  of  the  nation  itself  had  long  ago  ended.  The 
fall  of  Egypt  and  the  close  of  her  characteristic  history,  were 
already  an  irrevocable  fact  long  before  the  relentless  Cam- 
byses  knocked  at  the  doors  of  Pelusium.  The  Saitic  state 
was  a  creation  of  rulers  who  looked  into  the  future,  who 
belonged  to  it,  and  had  little  or  no  connection  with  the  past. 
They  were  as  essentially  non-Egyptian  as  the  Ptolemies  who 
followed  the  Persians.  The  Persian  conquest  in  525  B.  C, 
which  deprived  Psamtik  III,  the  son  of  Amasis  of  his  throne 
and  kingdom,  was  but  a  change  of  rulers,  a  purely  external 
fact.  And  if  a  feeble  burst  of  national  feeling  enabled  this 
or  that  Egyptian  to  thrust  off  the  Persian  yoke  for  a  brief 
period,  the  movement  may  be  likened  to  the  convulsive  con- 
tractions which  sometimes  lend  momentary  motion  to  limbs 
from  which  conscious  life  has  long  departed.  With  the  fall 
of  Psamtik  III,  Egypt  belonged  to  a  new  world,  toward  the 
development  of  which  she  had  contributed  much,  but  in 
which  she  could  no  longer  play  an  active  part.  Her  great 
work  was  done,  and  unable,  like  Nineveh  and  Babylon,  to 
disappear  from  the  scene,  she  lived  on  her  artificial  life  for 
a  time  under  the  Persians  and  the  Ptolemies,  ever  sinking, 
till  she  became  merely  the  granary  of  Rome,  to  be  visited  as 
a  land  of  ancient  marvels  by  wealthy  Greeks  and  Eomans, 
who  have  left  their  names  scratched  here  and  there  upon  her 
hoary  monuments,  just  as  the  modern  tourists,  admiring  the 
same  marvels,  still  continue  to  do.  But  her  unwarlike  peo- 
ple, still  making  Egypt  a  garden  of  the  world,  show  no  signs 
of  an  awakening  and  the  words  of  the  Hebrew  seer,  ' '  There 
shall  be  no  more  a  prince  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 1 1 1  have 
been  literally  fulfilled. 

■  Ezek.  30:  13. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  OF  KINGS 

(See  Ancient  Records  of  Egypt,  I,  38-75.) 

Note  :  All  dates  with  asterisk  are  astronomically  fixed. 

Introduction  of  calendar   4241  B.  C. 

Accession  of  Menes  and  Beginning  of  Dynasties  3400  B.  C. 

First  and  Second  Dynasties,  3400-2980  B.  C„ 
Eighteen  Kings,  420  years. 

Third  Dynasty,  2980-2900  B.  C. 
Zoser  to  Snefru,  80  years. 

Fourth  Dynasty,  2900-2750  B.  C. 


Khufu   23  yea 

Dedefre   8 

Khafre   x 

Menkure   x 


   x 

   18 

Shepseskaf   4 

   _2 

Total   55 


s. 


Known  minimum  150  years. 


Fifth  Dynasty,  2750-2625  B.  C. 

Userkaf   7  years. 

Sahure   12  " 

Neferirkere   x  M 

Shepseskere   7  11 

Khaneferre   x  " 

Nuserre   30  (-f  x)  years. 

Menkuhor   8  years. 

Dedkere-Isesi ...    28  " 

Unis   30     1 1 

Total    122  (+  3x)  years.    Minimum  125  years. 

Sixth  Dynasty,  2625-2475  B.  C. 

Teti  II   x  years. 

Userkere   x  " 

597 


598 


A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT 


Pepi  1   21  years 

Mernere  1   4  " 

Pepi  II   90  (+  x)  years. 

Mernere  II   1  year. 

Total   116  (+  3x)  years.    Known  length  150  years. 

Seventh  and  Eighth  Dynasties,  2475-2445  B.  C. 
Known  total  30  years. 

Ninth  and  Tenth  Dynasties,  2445-2160  B.  C. 
Eighteen  Heracleopolitans,  estimated  285  years. 

Eleventh  Dynasty. 

Horus  Wahenekh-Intef  1   50  (+  x)  years. 

Horus  Nakhtneb-Tepnefer-Intef  II    x  years. 
Horus  Senekhibtowe-Mentuhotep  I     x  " 

Nibhapetre-Mentuhotep  II   x  " 

Nibtowere-Mentuhotep  III   2  (+  x)  years. 

Nibhepetre-Mentuhotep  IV   46  (+  x)  " 

Senekhkere-Mentuhotep  V   _8  (+  x)  " 

Total   106  (+x)     "   Known  total  160  years. 

Twelfth  Dynasty,  2000-1788  B.  C. 

COREGENCIES. 

f  2000-1980  B.  C,  alone. 
Amenemhet  I..    30  years  2000*-1970*  B.  C.  |  1980-1970     "     with  his 

I  son. 

1980-1970  B.  C,  with  his 

father. 
1970-1938  B.  C,  alone. 
1938-1935     "     with  his 
son. 


Sesostris  1   45  years  1980*-1935*  B.  C. 


Amenemhet  II.    35  years  1938*-1903*  B.  C. 


1938-1935  B.  C,  with  his 

father. 
1935-1906  B.  C,  alone. 
1906-1903     "     with  his 

son. 


1906-1903  B.  C,    with  his 
Sesostris  II   19  years  1906*-1887*  B.  C.  {  father. 


1903-1887  B.  C,  alone. 

Sesostris  III....    38  years  1887*-1849*  B.  C.  J  Uncertain  period  with  his 

I  son. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  OF  KINGS 


699 


AmenemhetHI   48  years  1849*-1801*  B.  C. 


Amenemhet  IV      9  years  1801*-1792*  B.  C. 

Sebeknefrure...       4  years  1792*-1788*  B.  C. 

Total   228  years. 

Allowance  f  o  r 

coregencies...  15  years. 

Actual  total  213  years. 


Uncertain  period  with  his 
father. 

Uncertain  period  with  his 
son. 

Uncertain  period  with  his 
father. 


years  | 


56 


1557*-1501* 


Thirteenth  to  Seventeenth  Dynasties,  1788* -1580  B.  C. 
Including  the  Hyksos,  208  years. 

Eighteenth  Dynasty,  1580-1350,  B.  C. 

Ahmose  1  22(4-  x)  years,  1580-1557*  B.  C. 

Amenhotep  I.. 10(4  x) 
Thutmose  I.... 30(  +  x) 

"  Thutmose  III  54  years,  May  3,  1501*,  to  Mar.  17,  1447*  B.C 

(Including  Thutmose  II  and  Hatshepsut.) 

Amenhotep  II  26(4  x)  years,  1448*-1420  B.  C. 

Thutmose  IV   8(4-  x) 

Amenhotep  III  36 

Amenhotep  IV..17(+  x)  years 
(or  Ikhnaton  1375-1358 
B.  C.) 

Sakere  x  years 

Tutenkhamon... x  'I 

Eye  3(+  x)  11 


25 


1420-1411  " 
1411-1375  " 


1375-1350  " 


Total  227(+  4x) 


Minimum,  230  years. 


Nineteenth  Dynasty,  1350-1205  B.  C. 
Harmhab   34(+  x)  years,  1350-1315  B.  C. 


Ramses  1   2 

Seti  I   21(+  x) 

Ramses  II   67 

Merneptah   10(-f  x) 

Amenmeses   x 

Siptah   6(+  x) 

Seti  II   2(+  x) 


Total  142(+  6x) 


1315-1314 
1313-1292 
1292-1225 
1225-1215 
1215 

1215-1209 
1209-1205 

Minimum  145  years. 


600  A  HISTORY  OP  EGYPT 

Interim. 

Anarchy  and  reign  of  Syrian  usurper,  5(+  x)  years,  1205-1200  B.  C 

Twentieth  Dynasty,  1200-1090  B.  C. 

Setnakht   1(+  x)  years,  1200-1198  B.  C. 

Ramses  III   31  "  1198-1167  " 

Ramses  IV   6  "  1167-1161  " 

Ramses  V   4(+  x)     "  1161-1157  " 

Ramses  VI        x  years ") 

Ramses  VII...  x     "    [   15  "  1157-1142  « 

Ramses  VIII..  x     "  J 

Ramses  IX   19  "  1142-1123  " 

Ramses  X   1(+  x)     "  1123-1121  " 

Ramses  XI   x  "  1121-1118  " 

Ramses  XII   27(+  x)     "  1118-1090  " 

Total   104(+  5x)  "  Minimum  110  years. 

Twenty-first  Dynasty,  1090-945  B.  C. 
Nesubenebded  j      x         yearg)  1090.1085  B  c< 
Hrihor    j 

Pesibkhennol...    17(+  x)     "     1085-1067  " 

PaynozemI   40(+  x)     "      1067-1026  " 

Amenemopet         49(+  x)     "      1026-976  " 

Siamon   16(+  x)     "       976-958  " 

Pesibkhenno  II.    12(+  x)     "       958-945  " 

Total   134(-f  6x)    "     Minimum  145  years. 


Twenty-second  Dynasty,  945-745  B.  C. 

Sheshonk  I   21(+  x)  years,  945-924  B.  C. 

Osorkon  1   36(+  x)     "     924-895  " 

TakelotI   23(+  x)     u     895-874  " 

Osorkon  II   30(+  x)     il     874-853  " 

Sheshonk  II   00  11    (died  c.  877  B.  C.  during 

coregency  with  Osor= 
kon  II.) 

Takelot  II  ,   25(+  x)    "     860-834  B.  C. 

(7  years  coregent  with  Osorkon  II  ) 

Sheshonk  III   52         years,  834-784  B.  C. 

Pemou   6(+  x)    "     784-782  " 

Sheshonk  IV   37(+  x)    "      782-745  " 

Total   230(+ x)  " 

Allowance  for  possible  coregencies  30 

Grand  total   200(+  x)  "     Minimum  200  years. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  OF  KINGS  601 


Twenty  Third  Dynasty,  745-718  B.  C. 

Pedibast   23  (+  x)  years,  745-721  B.  C. 

Osorkon  III   1"±  (+x)  " 

Takelot  III   _x   " 

Total   37  (+  3x)  " 

Allowance  for  coregencies...  10  " 

Final  total   27  (+  x)     "      Minimum  27  years. 

Twenty  Fourth  Dynasty,  718-712  B.  C. 
Bekneranef  (Bocchoris)  6  (+  x)  years,  718-712  B.  C. 

Minimum  6  years. 


Twenty  Fifth  Dynasty,  712-663  B.  C. 

Shabaka   12  years,  712-700   B.  C. 

Shabataka          12     14      700*-688  " 

Taharka    26     "      688-663  " 

Total   50     "     Minimum  50  years. 

Twenty  Sixth  Dynasty,  663-525  B.  C. 

Psamtik  1   54  years,  663-609  B.  C. 

Necho   16     "     609-593  " 

Psamtik  II   5     "     593-588  " 

Apries  (Hophra)   19     "     588-569  44 

Ahmose  II   44     "     569-525  " 

Psamtik  III  A  few  months  525  " 

Total   138  11 


Conquest  by  the  Persians  (Twenty  Seventh  Dynasty),  525  B.  C. 
Egypt  a  Persian  province  with  short  interruptions  by  ephemeral  native 
dynasties  (Twenty  Eight  to  Thirty)  525-332,  B.  C. 

Alexander  the  Great  Seized  Egypt  332  B.  C. 
Egypt  under  Alexander  and  his  successors,  the  Ptolemies,  332  to  30  B.  C« 
Egypt  Became  a  Roman  Province  30  B.  C. 


INDEX 


Note:  Names  of  Pharaohs  and  queens  who  served  as  such  are  in  small 
capitals. 


Aba,  571 
Ababdeh,  6 
Abbasids,  214 
Abdashirta,  352,  382 
Abdkhiba,  387,  388 
Abimilki,  336,  383 

Abram,  earliest  mention  of,  530,  Fig. 
180 

Abram,  field  of,  530 
Absha,  188 
Abshai,  188 
Aburoash,  120 

Abu  Simbel,451 ;  begun  by  Seti  I,  415 ; 
visit  of  Khetasar  depicted  at,  439 ; 
Psamtik's  IPs  expedition  reaches, 
585 

Abusir,  pyramids  of,  129 

Abydos,  37,44,132,168;  reputed  home 
of  Osiris,  60;  northern  boundary  of 
Theban  Kingdom,  150,  151 ;  sanctity 
of  burial  at,  172;  memorial  tablets 
at,  172,  182,  185-86,  187,  212;  as 
abode  of  the  dead,  174;  access  to 
oases  from,  182;  new  Twelfth  Dy- 
nasty temple  at,  196;  Seti  I's  tem- 
ple at,  415,  416,  417,  420-21; 
Ramses  II  completes  Seti  I's  temple 
at,  420-21;  Ramses  IPs  temple  at, 
443,  445-46 

Abyssinia,  4,  8 ;  Christian  kingdom  of, 
561 

Achaeans,  467 
Acre,  294 

Administration,  Local,  in  Old  King- 
dom, 79,  80;  in  Middle  Kingdom, 
see  Nomarch ;  in  Empire,  236-37 

Adultery,  173 

^gean/260,  261,  262;  ware  in  Egypt 
in  first  two  dynasties,  49 ;  com- 
merce with,  in  Old  Kingdom,  142- 
43 ;  commerce  with,  in  Middle  King- 
dom, 188-89;  influence  of  Thutmose 
III  in,  305;  commerce  with  Egypt 
in  Empire,  337-38;  races  plunder 
Delta,  462 


603 


^Egina,  591 
JSolians,  590 

Africa,  3;  inner,  6,  138;  earliest  ex- 
ploration of  inner,  138-42;  pigmies 
of  inner,  139-40;  northern  Mediter- 
ranean peoples  migrating  to,  467 ; 
circumnavigated  by  Necho's  expedi- 
tion, 585 

Africans  (see  also  Nubians  and  Ne- 
groes), kinship  with  Egyptians  and 
imigration  into  Egypt,  7,  25-26 

Africans,  14 

Agriculture,  9,  28-29,  92 

Ahmose  I,  reign  of,  225-33,  233-35, 
252,  253;  rebellions  against,  226, 
228;  buildings  of,  252;  mother  of, 
252;  age  of,  252;  tomb  of,  252; 
body  of,  252,  Fig.  252;  compared 
with  Psamtik  I,  567 

Ahmose  II,  see  Amasis 

Ahmose  (wife  of  Thutmose  I),  255; 
death  of,  266;  children  of,  266; 
mother  of  Hatshepsut  by  Amon,  273 

Ahmose-Pen-Nekhbet,  under  Ahmose 
I,  227;  under  Amenhotep  I,  253; 
under  Thutmose  I,  256,  263-64 ;  un- 
der Thutmose  II,  270;  under  Hat- 
shepsut, 272 

Ahmose  Son  of  Ebana,  under  Ahmose 
I,  225,  226-27,  228,  234;  under 
Amenhotep  I,  253,  254 ;  under  Thut- 
mose I,  256,  263-64 

Ajalon,  387,  530 

Akhetaton,  founding  of,  364-66 ;  land- 
marks (stelas)  of,  365,  Fig.  140; 
decay  of,  392-93;  destruction  of 
temples  of,  402;  destruction  of 
tombs  of,  402 

Akhthoes,  148 

Akizzi,  335-36,  352 

Akko,  389 

Alabaster,  source  of,  6,  93 ;  vessels  of, 

39;  floors  of,  120 
Alabastronopolis,  399,  400,  402 
Alasa  (see  Cyprus),  518 
Aleppo,  303,  314,  427;  as  ally  of  Hit- 

tites,  424 ;  rescue  of  king  of,  433-34 


604 


INDEX 


Alexander,  320 
Alexandria,  5,  569 
Alexandrians,  576 
Algebra,  100 

Ali  Baba,  tale  of,  312,  453 
Allah,  248 
Aloa,  561 

Alphabet,  earliest  appearance  of,  45; 
introduced  into  Syria  from  Egypt, 
484;  transmitted  to  Greeks,  484 

Altaqu,  scene  of  first  battle  between 
Assyria  and  Egypt,  551-52 

Altar,  62 

Amada,  317,  414,  Amenhotep  IPs  tab- 
let at,  326 

Amasis  (Ahmose  II),  rise  of,  589; 
defeats  Apries,  589,  589-90;  co- 
regency  with  Apries,  589;  treat- 
ment of  the  Greeks,  590-91 ;  build- 
ings of,  591 ;  prosperity  under,  591 ; 
draws  upon  temple  wealth,  592; 
thwarted  in  Asia  by  Nebuchadrez- 
zar, 592-93;  acquires  Cyprus,  593; 
alliances  against  Persia,  593-94; 
character  of,  594-95 

Amenardis,  adopted  by  Shepnupet  I, 
546;  reinstated  by  Shabaka,  553; 
adopts  Shepnupet  II,  558 

Amenemhab,  301,  302,  303,  304,  311, 
313,  314,  315,  316 

Amenemhet  I,  rise  of,  155;  treat- 
ment of  nomarchs,  155-56,  161-62; 
prosperity  under,  177 ;  conspiracy 
against,177-78 ;  campaign  in  Nubia, 
178;  instruction  of,  178-79,  204; 
pyramid  of,  198,  201;  portrait- 
statues  of,  201 ;  compared  with 
Psamtik  I,  567 

Amenemhet  II,  201,  as  crown  prince 
in  Nubia,  181;  reign  of,  182-83; 
pyramid  of,  198,  201 ;  portrait- 
statues  of,  201 

Amenemhet  III,  reign  of,  189-95, 
208 ;  equipment  of  stations  in 
Sanai,  190-91, 208  ;  irrigation  works 
of,  191-95;  prosperity  under,  195; 
buildings  of,  196;  pyramid  of,  198; 
St.  Petersburg  portrait  of,  202,  Fig. 
90 

Amenemhet  IV,  reign  of,  208 ;  pyra- 
mid of,  198 

Amenemhet  (vizier  of  Mentuhotep 
IV),  153-55;  possible  identity  with 
Amenemhet  I,  154-55 

Amenemopet,  524-25 

Amenhotep  I,  252,  296;  reign  of, 
253-55;  Nubian  campaign,  253-54; 
Libyan  campaign,  254 ;  Asiatic  cam- 
paign, 254,  257,  263;  in  Phoenicia 
(?),  298;  death  of,  255;  tomb  of, 


278,  525;  becomes  local  god  of 
Thebes,  459;  royal  mummies  con- 
cealed in  old  tomb  of,  525 
Amenhotep  II,  coregency  of,  318; 
Asiatic  war,  323-25;  Nubian  cam- 
paign of,  325-26;  buildings  of,  326; 
jubilee  of,  326-27;  body  of,  327, 
Fig.  121,  511 
Amenhotep  III,  242;  parentage  of, 
328;  accession  of,  329;  marriage  to 
Tiy,  329-30;  Nubian  campaign, 
330-31;  supremacy  in  Asia,  332  ; 
letter  to  Kallimmasin  of  Baby- 
lon, 332;  royal  marriage  betweeen 
Babylon  and  house  of,  333;  mar- 
riage to  Gilukhipa,  333;  at  Sidon, 
337,  352;  luxury  of,  339;  develop- 
ment of  architecture  by,  343-46; 
monumental  development  of  Thebes 
by,  344-46;  buildings  of,  343-46, 
348,  351;  obelisks  of,  344,  345; 
mortuary  temple  of,  345-46,  348, 
471;  splendour  of,  348-52;  month 
named  after,  350;  as  hunter,  350- 
51 ;  modern  tendency  of,  351 ;  wor- 
ship of,  351;  jubilees  of,  351-52; 
Hittites  invade  dependencies  of, 
352-53;  death  of,  353-54;  Ikhnaton 
erases  name  of,  363-64;  Merneptah 
destroys  mortuary  temple  of,  471; 
robbery  of  tomb  of,  510 
Amenhotep  IV,  see  Ikhnaton 
Amenhotep,  son  of  Hapi,  341,  344 
Amenhotep  (High  Priest  of  Amon), 
508-10 

Ameni,  160-61,  162,  180,  181,  182 

Amenmeses,  472 
Amki,  382 
Ammon,  551,  586 

Amon  (see  also  High  Priest  of  Amon, 
Priests  and  Karnak),  rise  of,  170- 
71;  estate  of,  239;  organization  of 
priests  under  high  priest  of,  247 ; 
supremacy  of,  248,  362 ;  father  of 
Hatshepsut,  273 ;  oracle  of,  274, 277, 
400,  520-21,  522-23,  524,  527,  534; 
royal  mortuary  temples  of,  279; 
Thutmose  Ill's  gifts  to,  294;  re- 
organization of  temple  of,  310; 
hymn  to  Thutmose  III,  319;  love 
of  truth,  320;  claims  to  be  univer- 
sal god,  359 ;  hostility  toward  Aton, 
361-62,  390-91;  victory  of  Aton 
over,  362-63;  persecution  of,  363- 
64 ;  restoration  of  worship  of,  393 ; 
triumph  of,  403 ;  reinsertion  of 
name  of,  393,  402;  barge  of,  410, 
486,  513-19;  Seti  I's  restoration  of 
inscriptions  to,  414;  growth  in 
power  of,  456-57;  disproportionate 


IXDEX 


605 


wealth  of,  492-9G:  gains  gold- 
country  in  Nubia,  457,  494;  hymn 
to,  458 ;  personal  faith  in,  458 ; 
temple  of,  in  Syria,  298,  484; 
Ramses  Ill's  temple  of,  in  Delta 
residence,  487 ;  Ramses  Ill's  splen- 
did gifts  to,  490-91,  492-96;  feasts 
of,  492-93;  gains  enlarged  control 
over  revenues,  509 ;  bestower  of 
civilization,  515,  516;  god  of  the 
Nubian  kingdom,  538 ;  wealth  con- 
trolled bv  Nubians,  546,  558 ;  wealth 
controlled  by  Saites,  567,  585;  de- 
cay of,  583* 

Amon-of-the-Wav,  513,  515,  517 

Amon,  high  priest  of,  239,  272,  362, 
508,  513,  514;  also  chief  treasurer, 
362;  also  vizier,  272,  362;  power 
of,  302 ;  growth  in  power  of,  456-57, 
494-95,  507,  508-10,  511,  519,  520; 
gains  hereditary  control  of  office, 
456-57,  508;  gains  throne,  494-95, 
507,  520-21;  becomes  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  army,  519;  becomes 
viceroy  of  Nubia,  520;  theocratic 
rule  introduced  bv,  522-23 :  in 
Twenty  First  Dynasty,  520-28; 
commands  native  militia,  526 ;  in 
the  Twenty  Second  Dynasty,  529- 
31,  532,  533-34;  declining  power  of, 
553;  final  fall  of,  557,  567;  woman 
becomes,  567,  586 

Amon-Re,  see  Amon 

Amor,  382,  383,  412;  Egyptian  trade 
with,  447-48 ;  city  of  Merneptah  in, 
465 ;  occupied  by  Northern  peoples, 
478,  479;  Ramses  III  in,  483;  in- 
cluded in  empire  of  Ramses  III,  483 

Amorite,  see  Amor 

Amusements,  in  Old  Kingdom,  89-91 

Anath,  in  Egypt,  449,  460 

Anath-herte,  449 

Animals,  extinct,  30 

Animals,  sacred,  60 ;  worship  of,  460 ; 
Saite  excesses,  575-76 

Annals,  earliest,  45,  109 ;  of  Thutmose 
III,  312-13 

Anshan,  593 

Anubis,  46  ;  as  embalmer,  58 
Aphroditopolis,  nomarch  of,  surviving 

under  Empire,  228,  542,  544 
Apion,  Josephus  against,  215 
Apis,  46,  557 ;  Saite  popularity  of, 

575 

Apollos,  archaic,  580 

Apophis,  in  Avaris,  216,  223;  altar 
of,  217;  wide  rule  of,  218;  three 
kings  named,  221 ;  mathematical 
papyrus  of,  221,222;  relations  with 


Thebes,  223-24;  tale  of,  215-16, 
223-24,  453-54 

Apries,  586 ;  resumes  attempt  to  re- 
cover Syria-Palestine,  586 ;  Asiatic 
war,  586-87 ;  attacks  Tyre  and 
Sidon,  586 ;  repelled  by  Nebuchad- 
rezzar, 587;  prosperity  of,  588; 
trouble  with  mercenaries,  588-89 ; 
Cyrenian  expedition,  588;  forsaken 
by  the  Egyptians,  589;  defeated 
by  Amasis,  589,  589-90 ;  coregent 
with  Amasis.  589  ;  slain,  590;  buried 
by  Amasis,  590 

Arabia,  258,  259,  549,  565 

Arabians,  217,  219 

Arad,  530 

Araina,  314 

Aramaeans,  259,  577 

Arch,  101 

Archery,  234 

Architect,  earliest,  42 ;  chief,  in  Old 
Kingdom.  83;  Imhotep,  112;  in 
Empire,  254-55,  265,  266,  271-72, 
278-79,  295,  306,  340-41,  366 

Architecture  (see  also  Dwelling,  Tem- 
ple, Tomb),  earliest,  27-28;  early 
dvnasties,  41-42;  earliest  stone,  42, 
Fig.  25;  in  Old  Kingdom,  106-07; 
of  temple,  106-07  ;  Babylonian,  107  ; 
progress  of,  under  Imhotep,  113; 
in  Twelfth  Dvnastv,  200-01;  in 
Empire,  340-46,  417*,  450,  486-88; 
Egyptian  origin  of  cathedral  of 
architecture,  343-44;  in  Twenty 
Second  Dynasty,  531 ;  in  Saite 
period,  573  and  frontispiece 

Archives  of  State,  82,  240 ;  vizier 
in  charge  of  state,  240-41;  legal, 
510-11 

Arko,  Sebekhotep  the  Great  at,  212, 
257;  Thutmose  I  at,  256 

Armour,  Syrian,  292 

Army  (see  also  Troops,  and  Mercen- 
aries) ,  in  Old  Kingdom,  84,  134-35; 
provisioning  of,  153;  in  Middle 
Kingdom,  167-68;  in  Empire,  233- 
35,  243,  285,  404;  weapons  of,  234; 
of  Thutmose  III,  285;  lack  of  dis- 
cipline in,  299;  mercenaries  in,  see 
Mercenaries ;  size  of,  424,  425 ;  de- 
cline of,  441,  464;  reorganized  by 
Ramses  III,  477 ;  in  Nubian  period, 
552;  in  Saite  period,  568-69,  569-70 

Arrapakhitis,  315 

Arsinoe,  194 

Art,  of  earlv  dvnasties,  39-40;  of 
Old  Kingdom,  i02-07,  129;  of  Mid- 
dle Kingdom,  201-02 ;  impersonal 
characters  of,  207;  of  Empire.  341- 
49,  378,  417,  448,  450,  487-88;  in- 


606 


INDEX 


terpretation  of  life  in,  346-47 ;  of 
Amarna  period,  378;  decadence  of, 
487-88;  of  the  Libyan-Nubian  pe- 
riod, 548-49;  of  the  Saite  period, 
571,  572-73,  579-80 

Artatama,  333 ;  Thutmose  IV  marries 
daughter  of,  328 

Aruna,  286  (map),  287,  288 

Arvad,  260,  479;  Thutmose  III  cap- 
tures, 298;  revolt  of,  301;  as  ally 
of  Hittites,  424;  monuments  of 
Necho  at,  587 

Ashdod,  580 

Ashurbanipal,  556-66;  defeats  Ta- 
harka,  556-57;  retakes  Memphis 
and  possibly  captures  Thebes,  556- 
57 ;  drives  out  Tanutamon,  559 ; 
captures  Thebes,  559-60;  relin- 
quishes hold  on  the  West,  565-66 

Asia  (see  also  Syria,  Palestine  and 
Syria-Palestine),  136,  180,203,280; 
desert  of,  3;  invasion  from,  7,  25- 
26,  214-19;  intimate  intercourse 
with,  322;  Egyptian  boundary  in, 
264,  303,  324;  supremacy  of  Egypt 
in,  332-37;  loss  of  Egyptian  Em- 
pire in,  389;  Egyptian  trade  with, 
447-48;  gods  of,  in  Egypt,  460 

Asia  Minor,  3,  188,  260,  566;  Egyptian 
notion  of,  261;  peoples  of,  262-63, 
424;  high  position  in  Egypt  gained 
by  natives  of,  497,  500 

Asiatics,  178,  239,  263,  319;  in  Egypt, 
215;  Hyksos  called,  217;  as  cap- 
tives in  Egypt,  308-09 

Askalon,  387 ;  taken  by  Ramses  II, 
435-36;  revolts  against  Merneptah, 
465;  captured  by  Merneptah,  470; 
captured  by  Sennacherib,  551;  cap- 
tured by  Necho,  582 

Assuan,  7;  tombs  of,  138 

Assyria,  259,  322 ;  beginnings  of  As- 
syria, 263;  kings  of,  292;  sends 
gifts  to  Thutmose  III,  296;  seeks 
Egyptian  alliance,  332;  Amenhotep 
III  sends  gold  to  king  of,  334-35; 
some  Tanite  sends  crocodile  to  Tig- 
lath-Pileser  I  of,  518;  Takelot  II 
sends  a  thousand  men  against 
Shalmaneser  II  of,  534;  Western 
supremacy  of,  549-60;  fall  of,  582, 
583 

Assyrians,  216,  217,  534 

Astarte,  in  Egypt,  448,  460;  temple 

in  Memphis,  448 
Astronomy,  100 
Astyages,  593 
Atbara,  4,  127 
Athens,  591 

Athribis,  497,  543,  544;  under  the 


Assyrians,  557;  great  religious 
centre  in  Saite  period,  575 

Atika,  485 

Atlantic,  3 

Aton,  rise  of,  360 ;  identity  of  Re  and, 
360;  nature  of,  360-61;  symbol  of, 
361;  temples  of,  361,  364,  366-67, 
389,  393,  402;  hostility  toward 
Amon,  362 ;  becomes  sole  god,  362- 
64;  city  of,  see  Akhetaton;  inaug- 
uration of  temple  of,  366-67;  high 
priest  of,  360,  367;  hymns  to,  371- 
76;  name  changed,  390;  decline  of, 
393,  402;  fall  of,  402-03;  temples 
of,  destroyed,  402 

"Attendants,"  167 

Atum,  59 

Augustus,  166,  547 

Avaris,  217;  Asiatics  in,  215;  siege 
of,  215,  226;  length  of  siege  of 
226-27;  Apophis  in,  216;  Sutekh, 
god  of,  217;  disappearance  of,  218; 
canal  of,  226;  capture  of,  226 

Ayan,  252,  484;  quarries  at,  93 

Aziru,  352,  382,  383,  386;  Egyptian 
deputy  slain  by,  385 

B. 

Baal,  22,  259;  in  Egypt,  448,  460; 

temple  in  Memphis,  448 
Baal  (King  of  Tyre),  555 
Baba,  225 
Baboons,  276 

Babylon,  259,  595;  Middle  Kingdom 
commerce  with,  188;  decline  of, 
263;  sends  gifts  to  Thutmose  III, 
304;  loses  commercial  leadership, 
263,  322;  struggle  with  Assyria, 
565,  567 ;  retrospective  character  of 
revival  in,  576 

Babylon  (in  Egypt),  543,  544 

Babylonia,  28,  447;  life  after  death, 
173;  influence  of,  in  the  West,  262; 
loss  of  influence  in  the  West,  322; 
Thutmose  IV  in  alliance  with,  328; 
Amenhotep  III  in  alliance  with, 
332 ;  royal  marriages  between  Egypt 
and,  333,  379;  Egyptian  trade  with, 
388-89,  447-48;  decline  and  fall  of 
Second  Empire  of,  593 

Bagdad,  520 

Bahr  Yusuf,  5,  6;  used  by  Piankhi, 

540,  542 
Balances,  277,  491 
Ba'lat,  259 

Banishment,  404,  524 
Barge,  temple,  410 
Barley,  92 

Barque  of  the  sun-god,  see  Sun-god 


INDEX 


607 


Barter,  97 
Basilica,  344 
Bast,  59 

"  Beautiful  are  the  Ways  of  Khe- 
kure,"  183 

Beduin,  in  Sanai,  48,  134-35,  190,  191 ; 
in  Palestine,  135,270,315,386,409- 
10.  484;  on  west  shore  of  Red  Sea, 
142;  as  mercenaries.  386,  387;  ab- 
sorb Palestine,  387-89,  409-10;  de- 
feated bv  Seti  I,  410;  admitted  to 
Egypt,  187-S8,  447 

Bega,  25 

Beket,  162 

Bek,  366,  378 

Beketaton,  366 

Bekhten,  440 

Belgium,  6 

Ben-Anath,  449 

Beni-Hasan,  160,  170,  187;  birthplace 
of  Khufu,  116;  tombs  of,  156,  160; 
inscription  of  Hatshepsut  at,  215, 
280 

Ben-'Ozen,  449,  471 
Berber,  466 

Berut,  during  Hittite  invasion,  386; 
stelae  near,  423,  439,  Fig.  159 
•  Beth-Anoth,  530 
Bethhoron,  530 
Beth-Shean,  512,  530 
Bet  Khallaf,  114;  great  mastaba  of, 

113,  Fig.  62 
Bikhuru,  386,  388 
Birit-Anath,  449,  450 
Biography,  109,  134;  earliest,  133 
Birds,  as  souls,  64 
Birket  el-Kurun,  192-93 
Bitter  Lakes,  115 
Black  Sea,  577 
Blasphemy,  173 
Blemmyes,  561 

Boat  (see  also  Ships),  earliest  dynas- 
tic; Fig.  27;  earliest  hunting,  30; 
earliest  cargo,  30;  earliest  sail,  30; 
as  shrine,  62 ;  of  ferryman  ol  the 
dead,  65,  176;  building  in  Old  King- 
dom, 95,  136,  137;  kinds  of,  95; 
Nile  traffic  in,  97,  114,  136,  164; 
model,  176;  Sesostris  Ill's  mortu- 
ary, 176,  Fig.  82;  heavy  transpor- 
tation in,  266,  281,  282 

Bocchoris,  reign  of,  546-47;  sends 
gifts  to  Sargon,  550 ;  death  of,  -550 

Bodv-guard,  of  Pharaoh,  235,  243,  Fig. 
163 

Book  of  the  Dead,  250;  rise  of,  175; 
growth  of,  249;  Saite  recension  of, 
571 

"  Book  of  the  Portals,"  250 
"  Book  of  the  Two  Ways,"  175 


"Book  of  What  is  in  the  Nether- 
world," 250 

Bow  and  arrows,  earliest  use  of,  30 

"  Bow-Land,"  178 

Branchidae,  Milesian.  583 

Brick,  earliest,  27-28;  making  as  an 
industrv,  94-95;  pvramids  of,  198- 
200,  224 

Briefs,  legal,  Old  Kingdom,  81-82 
Bronze,  93,  263,  274;  Saite  plastic  in, 
573 

Bubastis,  59,  119,  216,  414;  Twelfth 
Dynasty  in,  197,  201;  Twenty 
Second  Dynasty  makes  residence 
at,  527;  Twenty  Second  Dynasty 
buildings  in,  53  i,  533 

Building  (see  also  Architecture) ,  cap- 
tives emploved  in,  309,  414 

Burded,  128,  140 

Burial,   archaic,   34-35;    at  Abvdos, 

172,  196 
Burraburyash,  379,  389 
Business/97-98,  195;  records,  98 
Busiris,  60.  543 

Butlers  of  Pharaoh,  497.  498,  500 

Buto  (city),  34,  44;  religious  impor- 
tance in  Saite  times,  575 

Buto  (goddess),  34,  38 

Buvuwawa,  526,  527 

Byblos,  259.  260,  352;  Egyptian  tem- 
ples at.  323;  during  Hittite  inva- 
sion, 382,  383.  385,  386;  Egyptian 
envoys  detained  at,  512;  mission  of 
Wenamon  at,  513-18 

C. 

Cairo,  520,  548;  museum,  224;  citadel 
of,  309 

Calasiries,  568,  569 

Calendar,  introduction  of,  32;  charac- 
ter of,  32-33  ;  dating,  44 ;  year,  44 ; 
control  of,  244 

Caliph,  520,  570 

Cambyses,   326,   595;    expedition  to 

Nubia,  561 
Canaan,  410:  Merneptah  wastes,  470 
Canaanites,  259 

Canal,  through  First  Cataract,  136, 
183,  184,  256,  257,  318  ;  into  Fayum, 
193;  canal  out  of  Fayum,  5;  of 
Avaris,  226 :  connecting  Nile  with 
Red  Sea.  142,  276.  277,  411,  485-86, 
584;  at  Tharu,  411 

Canopic  Branch,  474,  590 

Caphtor,  512 

Cappadocia.  188,  380 

Captives,  foreign,  arrival  of,  308-09, 
325,  411,  412;  disposal  of,  309,  328, 
329,  339,  414,  482;  sacrifice  of,  325, 
411;  labour  of,  309,  414-  446 


608 


INDEX 


Caravan-conductor,  138 

Carchemish,  303;  as  ally  of  Hittites, 

424;  battle  of,  583-84 
Carians,   566 ;   as  mercenaries,  566, 

568,  569 ;  Memphite  quarter  for,  577 
Carmel,  188,  258,  287,  288,  387 
Carthaginian   colonies   of  Phoenicia, 

261 

Caste,  unknown  in  Egypt,  574 

Cataracts,  4,  6;  commerce  through,  7; 
canal  through  first,  136,  183,  184, 
256;  as  a  barrier,  136;  region  of, 
136-37;  tribes  of,  136-37 

Cattle  (see  also  Herds),  237;  yards 
as  Department  of  White  House, 
237-38;  due  from  officials,  238; 
wild,  350  ;  owned  by  temples,  492 

Cavalry,  234 

Cedar,  252,  328,  410;  source  of,  95, 
168,  265,  513-17 

Cemeteries,  archaic,  34;  Old  King- 
dom, 116 

Census,  44,  165-66,  211 

Chapel,  mortuary,  see  Temple,  Mor- 
tuary 

"Chapters  of  Going  Forth  by  Day," 
175 

Chariot,  226,  264,  289,  290,  292,  319, 
381,  447;  making,  235,  260 

Chariotry,  234,  381;  at  battle  of  Ka- 
desh,  428-32 

Charms,  protecting  the  dead,  69 

Chiaroscuro,  earliest,  378 

"Chief  of  All  Work*  of  the  King," 
83 

China,  351 
Chinese,  576,  579 
Chios,  590 
Christian,  64 

Chronology,  21-23,  597-601 
Cilicians,  565;  as  allies  of  Hittites, 
424 

Cimmerians,  565,  566 
Cinnamon,  276 
Circle,  Great,  56,  261,  319 
Citizen,  167,  168 

"Citizens  of  the  Army,"  Middle  King- 
dom, 246;  in  Empire,  246,  404 
Civilization,  earliest,  26-31 
Clazomense,  590 

Clear-Story,  Egyptian  origin  of,  344 
Climate,  7-8,  9-10 
Cnidus,  590 

Cnossos,   Hyksos   remains   in,  218; 

monuments    of    Khian    in,  218; 

Egyptian  commerce  with,  337 
Coffin,  69 

Colonnade,  274,  Fig.  113,  Egypt  the 
source  of  the,  107,  Fig.  61,  198;  at 
Luxor,  343,  Fig.  128 


Colossi,  see  Statue 

Column,  107,  Figs.  60  and  61;  Saite 

origin  of  Ptolemaic,  573 
Commerce,  260,  485;  with  the  North, 

337-  39,    381,   447;    regulation  of, 

338-  39;  Saite  revival  of,  577 
Commodus,  214 

"  Divine  Consort,"  248,  546,  558,  567, 
585 

Conspiracy,  134,  177-78,  241,  242,  498- 
500 

Constantinople,  obelisk,  306 

Contracts,  70-71,  165,  240 

Copper,  earliest  use  of,  28;  protody- 
nastic  vessels  of,  39;  tools  of,  39, 
93;  Sinaitic  mines  of,  48;  smith, 
93,  169;  vessels  of,  94;  as  money, 
97,  195;  life-size  statue  of,  104; 
mines  of  Cyprus,  260,  313;  from 
Syria,  325;  weapons  of,  469;  mines 
of  Atika,  485 

Coptos,  212;  route  to  Red  Sea,  128, 
159,  182;  nomarch  of,  159;  organ- 
ization of  gold-country  of,  310 

Corinth,  580 

Cornelius  Gallus,  166 

Cosmetic,  187-88,  276 

Costume,  primitive,  27 ;  royal,  see 
Pharaoh;  in  Old  Kingdom,  88-89; 
in  Empire,  340 

"Council,"  241 

Count,  in  the  Middle  Kingdom,  157- 
58,  161;  in  the  Empire,  237;  be- 
comes administrative  title,  237 
Court  of  Pharaoh,  74-75,  243 
Courts  of  Justice,  see  Justice 
Cow  of  the  sky,  54/  Fig.  30,  56 
Craftsmen,  see  also  Industries,  169, 

170,  202-03,  346,  573 
Crete,   261 ;    Egyptian   influence  in, 
338;    Philistines   migrating  from, 
512 

Criminals,  trial  of,  240;  punishment 

of,  404,  500,  523,  527 
Crocodile,  91,  319;  as  foe  of  the  dead, 

175,  194 
Crocodilopolis,  194,  542 
Croesus,  593 
Crowns,  32,  38 
Crystal,  rock,  39 
Cultus,  earliest,  62 
Cuneiform,  use  in  the  West,  262; 

used  by  Hittites,  380 
Currency,  see  Money 
Custodian,  under-,  134;  superior,  134 
Custom  houses,  338 
Cyaxares,  582,  583 
Cyprus,  260,  319,  338,  381,  479,  517; 

vassal  of  Egypt,  305;  tribute  of, 

313,  315,  411;  Egyptian  commerce 


IXDEX 


609 


with,  337.  447;  defeated  by  Xecho, 
586 

Cyrene.  588,  591 
Cyrus,  593 

D. 

Dahabiyeh,  95 
Dalailama,  351 

Damascus.  352,  353;  taken  by  Tig- 

lath-pileser  III,  549 
Damiette,  5 
Danaoi,  477 
Daphnae,  569,  591 

Dardanians,  as  allies  of  Hittites,  424 
Dashur,    stone    pyramids    of,  114; 

double    slope    pyramid    of,  115; 

Middle  Kingdom  pyramids  of,  198 
Dating,  method  of,  44 
David,  205 

Daughter,  inheritance  through  eldest, 
161 

Dead,  equipment  of,  63,  67-73,  176, 
Fig.  81,  251-52;  equipment  of 
royal,  41,  71-73.  176,  251;  abode 
of,'  64-65,  174,  175;  food  and  cloth- 
ing for,  65,  69,  70;  endowment  of, 
70,  71,  265;  ferryman  of,  65;  voy- 
age of,  65,  176;  earliest  ethical 
test  awaiting,  65,  67;  dwelling  in 
tomb,  67-68;  burial  of,  69;  charms 
for  protecting,  69  (see  also  Book 
of  the  Dead)  ;  cultus  statue  of, 
69-70;  Osirian  judgment  of,  173- 
74,  175;  destiny  of,  64-65,  174; 
dangers  and  foes  of,  174-75;  inter- 
cede with  gods  for  the  living,  421, 
506:  afflict  the  living,  460-61 

Dead  Sea,  258 

Deben,  195 

Decadence,  history  of,  505-64;  nine 
Ramessids,  505-21  :  final  loss  of 
Asiatic  empire  in,  511-19:  triumph 
of  priests  of  Amon  in,  508-10.  519- 
.  26 ;  Tanitic  supremacy  in,  523-28 ; 
Libyan  supremacy  in.  528-36 ; 
Nubian  supremacy  in.  537-61  :  As- 
syrian conquest  in,  555-67;  rise  of 
Saites  in,  540-46,  556,  565 

Dedetre.  119-20,  123 

Dedu.  home  of  Osiris,  60 

Dedwen,  184 

Deeds  and  transfers,  567 
Delphians,  591 

Delta  (see  also  Delta),  Kingdom  of 
the,  31-32;  symbols  of,  32,  38; 
capitals,  33-34 ;  patron  divinities, 
34;  historv  of,  35-36;  union  with 
Upper  Egypt.  36,  42-44,  47;  rebel- 
lions against  Upper  Egypt,  47  ;  door 
of,  in  the  palace,  78;  administra- 


tion of,  79-80;  reestablished  by 
Xesubenebded,  511 

Delta  (see  also  Kingdom  of),  5,  214: 
marshals  of,  5;  coast  of,  6;  immi- 
gration through,  7 ;  rains  in,  7,  10 ; 
eastern  frontier  fortresses  of,  115, 
178,  188,  447,  569,  591;  buildings 
and  prosperity  under  the  Twelfth 
Dynasty,  188,*  197;  in  Thirteenth 
Dynasty,  211;  Hyksos  rule  in  east- 
ern, 215.  216:  Libyan  invasion  of 
western,  47,  49,  179,  254.  411,  462, 
466-71.  474,  477-79,  481-83,  526- 
27;  Thutmose  III  restores,  309; 
center  of  commerce,  322 ;  becomes 
seat  of  power,  442 ;  Nineteenth 
Dynasty  develops  eastern.  442-43 ; 
frontier  fortresses  of  western,  469. 
478-79. 481,  482, 569  :  roval  residence 
in,  442-43,  486  ;  absorbed  by  Xesu- 
benebded, 511,  515  :  Libyan  absorp- 
tion of,  526-27 :  Libvan  lords  of, 
528-29,  532-33,  534,  535-36,  555- 
56,  568;  conquered  by  Piankhi, 
543-44 ;  conquered  by  Esarhaddon. 
555-56  ;  plots  with  Taharka  against 
Esarhaddon.  556;  against  Ashur- 
banipal,  557 ;  finally  lost  to  As- 
syria, 565;  plundered  by  Greeks 
and  Carians,  566;  Psamtik  I  sup- 
presses dynasts  of,  567 ;  final  su- 
premacy of,  573 

Demotic,  rise  and  introduction  of,  574 

Dendera,  temple,  35,  59 ;  goddess  of, 
59;  temple  built  by  Khufu,  119 

Denyen,  477,  479 

Deper,  436 

Der  el-Bahri,  Hatshepsut's  temple  at, 
begun,  269;  Thutmose  IPs  reliefs 
in,  270-71;  birth  reliefs  in.  272- 
73;  building  resumed,  273;  charac- 
ter of.  274.  277-78;  Punt  reliefs, 
277-78;  reliefs  of  obelisk-transport, 
282;  concealment  of  royal  mum- 
mies at,  525 

Der  el-Bahri,  Mentuhotep  IPs  temple 
at,  152;  royal  mummies  discovered 
at,  224;  Hatshepsut's  temple  at, 
269,  270-71 

Desert,  of  northern  Africa  continued 
in  Asia,  3;  limestone  plateau  of, 
5;  Libyan,  6,  192;  Arabian,  6; 
earliest  man  in  Libyan,  25 

Destruction  of  man,  56 

Desuk,  119 

Diodorus,  242.  584 

Diorite.  28,  39,  93 

Districts,  administrative,  in  Old 
Kingdom.  79 :  in  Middle  Kingdom, 
165;  in  Empire,  236-37 


39 


610 


INDEX 


Dodekaschomos,   gift   of,   by  Zoser, 

112,  by  Ramses  III,  491,  495 
Dogs,  276 

Dog  River  (Nahr  el-Kelb),  423;  stela 

of  Esarhaddon  at,  556 
Door,  false,  68 

"Door  of  the  North,"  Abydos  as,  151 
"Door  of  the  South,"   135;  keeper 

of  the,  135,  150,  152-53,  154 
Dor,  Thekel  kingdom  at,  512,  513 
Dorians,  590 

Drama,  earliest  known,  171,  207 
Dream,  468,  558 

Dushratta,  33,  381;  letter  to  Amen- 
hotep  III  from,  333 ;  repels  Hit- 
tites,  352;  writes  to  Tiy,  379; 
writes  to  Ikhnaton,  379 

Dwarf,  41,  139-40 

Dwelling,  earliest,  27-28;  of  lower 
classes,  86-87;  Map  1;  of  the 
nobles,  88,  89,  90;  architecture  of, 
106,  200 

Dynasties,  13-14 

  First  and  Second,  127 ;  civiliza- 
tion of,  37-40;  history  of,  36-37, 
40-50;  tombs  of,  40-42,  49;  fate 
of  tombs  of,  49-50,  420;  prosperity 
of,  48 ;  public  works  of,  48 ;  com- 
merce with  iEgean,  49;  later  rev- 
erence for,  415;  Seti  I's  list  of, 
415;  Abydos  chapel  to,  415 

 Third,  40 ;  neglect  of  Horus-wor- 

ship  by,  46 ;  war  with  Delta,  47 ; 
history  of,  112-16 

 Fourth,  127;  history  of,  116-23; 

inner  circle  of  related  officials  of, 
77;  origin  of,  116;  folk-tale  of  fall 
of,  122-23 

  Fifth,  156;  folk-tale  of  rise  of, 

122-23,  203 ;  history  of,  123-30 

 Sixth,  history  of,  131-44 

  Seventh  and  Eighth,  147;  state 

of  country  during,  148-49 

 Ninth  and  Tenth  (see  also  Hera- 

cleopolis),  148;  supported  by  Siut, 
149 

  Eleventh,  160;  history  of,  149- 

55 

  Twelfth,  origin  of,  154-55;  resi- 
dence of,  157,  194;  history  of,  177- 
208;  Nubian  conquest  of,  180-87; 
relations  with  Asia,  187-91 ;  irri- 
gation enterprises  of,  191-94;  de- 
velopment of  eastern  Delta  by,  188; 
exploitation  of  Sinai,  163,  164, 
182,  190-91;  buildings  of,  195-200; 
art  of,  201-02;  literature  of,  203- 
08;  fall  of,  208 

  Thirteenth,  reign  of,  211-13; 

at  Thebes,  212-13 


Dynasty,  Fourteenth,  214 

  Fifteenth  to  Seventeenth,  221 

  Seventeenth,  225 

  Eighteenth    (see  also  Empire, 

First  Period),  rise  of,  225-29;  his- 
tory of,  253-365 

  Nineteenth    (see   also  Empire, 

Second  Period),  vandalism  of,  195; 
history  of,  399-474;  anarchy  at 
close  of,  473-74 

  Twentieth    (see    also  Empire, 

Second  Period  and  Decadence),  ac- 
cession of,  474-77;  history  of,  477- 
521;  power  of  priests  and  fall  of 
Empire  in,  489-521 

  Twenty  First,  accession  of,  511, 

513,  514,  515;  history  of,  522-27; 
decline  under,  524-25;  weakness 
abroad,  526;  rise  of  Israel  during, 
526 

  Twenty  Second  (see  also  Lib- 
yans), rise  and  accession  of,  526- 
27 ;  history  of,  527-35 ;  transfers  to 
Bubastis,  527 ;  Egyptianized  char- 
acter of,  533 ;  civil  war  during, 
532,  534;  vandalism  of,  535 

  Twenty  Third  (Nubian  Period), 

535-36,  543,  546;  decline  of  Egypt 
under,  547-48 ;  conquest  by  Nu- 
bians in,  539-50 

 Twenty  Fourth  (Nubian  Period), 

546-47 

 Twenty  Fifth  ( Nubian  Dynasty ) , 

history  of,  550-60 
 Twenty  Sixth,  see  Restoration 

E. 

Earth-god,  54,  55 
Eavesdropping,  173 
Ebgig,  194 

Ebony,  39,  127,  136,  276,  277 
Ecstacy,  513-14 
Edfu,  4,  37,  113,  178,  196 
Edom,  plots  with  Egypt  against  As- 
syria, 550-51,  551 
Edomite,  447 

Education,  in  Old  Kingdom,  98-100 
Egypt,  extent  of,  4;  area  of,  5-6; 
natural  boundaries  of,  7 ;  shape  of, 
7 ;  local  differences  produced  by 
shape  of,  7;  climate,  7-8;  aspect  of 
land,  10-11;  isolation  of,  6,  10;  in- 
fluence of  land  on  people,  10-11,  53, 
61;  influence  of,  abroad,  11-12;  an- 
ciently regarded  as  source  of  civi- 
lization, 515,  516 

 Lower,  kingdom  of,  see  Delta 

■         Upper,  kingdom  of,  33;  capitals 

of,  33;  symbols  of,  33,  38;  divini 


IXDEX 


611 


ties  of,  34;  historv  of,  35-36; 
union  with  Delta,  30,  42-44,  47; 
door  of,  in  the  palace,  78;  admin- 
istration of,  79-80;  governing 
Delta,  132;  becomes  two  principali- 
ties (see  Heracleopolis  and  Thebes), 
528-29,  532;  conquered  by  Piankhi, 
539-42;  conquered  by  Esarhaddon, 
550 

Egyptians,  ethnic  affinities,  25;  phys- 
ical characteristics,  20-27;  civiliza- 
tion of,  earliest,  20-31;  love  of 
nature.  91:  love  of  beauty,  102; 
unwarlike  spirit  of,  135 

Ekereth,  see  Ugarit 

Ekwesh,  407 

El  Bersheh,  163,  108 

Eieans,  585 

Electrum,  Fig.  27,  127,  187;  by  the 
bushel,  281;  bv  the  ton,  308 

Elephant,  30,  181 ;  in  Svria,  271,  304 

Elephantine,  4,  30,  112,*  132,  Fig.  74, 
138,  141;  Old  Kingdom  nobles  of, 
135,  137-38,  139-42.  108;  expedi- 
tions of  nobles  of,  137-42;  Middle 
Kingdom  nobles  of,  181;  Amen- 
hotep  II's  tablet  at,  320;  Saite  gar- 
rison at.  509 

Eleutheros,  259,  299 

Eliakim.  583 

El  Kab,  33,  38,  44,  220,  228;  early 
Nubian  frontier  at.  180,  253-54, 
255;  great  wall  built  bv  Amenem- 
het  III,  190,  208;  as  ally  of  Thebes, 
225-29;  survival  of  nomarchs  of, 
229 ;  nomarch's  rule  south  of  Thebes, 
229;  country  south  of.  transferred 
to  vizier,  230;  northern  Xubia  gov- 
erned by  mayor  of,  253-54 

El  Khargeh,  first  intercourse  with,  182 

Elam,  505 

Eloquent  Peasant,  tale  of  the,  204 
Embalmers,  141,  251 
Empire,   rise   of,   225-33 ;  State  in, 
233-45;  societv  in,  245-47;  army 
in,  233-35,  243,  285 
First  Period: 

History  of.  200-395;  internal 
feuds,  200-83;  conquest  of 
Syria-Palestine.  284-354; 
religious  revolution.  355- 
78;  loss  of  Asiatic  empire, 
379-89;  fall  of,  389-95; 
religion  in,  247-52.  355- 
78;  literature  in,  350;  art 
in,  341-49.  378:  luxury  in, 
339-40,  348-51 ;  changes 
in  life  in,  340 
Second  Period: 

Restoration,  399-422;  partial 


recovery  of  Asiatic  em- 
pire, 423-41;  cosmopoli- 
tan character  of,  447-50; 
limits  of  empire.  450; 
armv  in,  40*,  424-25,  448- 
49,  Fig.  103,  485;  art  of, 
417,  448,  450-53,  487-88; 
literature  of,  453-55 ;  re- 
ligion of,  401-03,  455-00; 
sacerdotalization  of  State 
in,  450-57 

Emu,  270 

Enekhnes-Merire,  134,  139 
Enekhnesneferibre,  adopted  by  Xito- 

cris,  585;  becomes  High  Priest  of 

Amon,  586 
Enenkhet,  142 
Enkhosnepaaton,  392 
Enkhu.  221 
Enneads,  56 

Ensigns,  on  early  boats,  30 
Eratosthenes,  143 
Ereth,  483 
Erkatu,  316 
Ernen,  437 
Erwenet,  424 

Esarhaddon,  555-56;  conquest  of 
Delta  by,  555-56 ;  takes  Memphis, 
555;  controls  Upoer  Egypt,  556; 
Dog  River  (Xahr  el-Kelbj  stela  of, 
556,  Fig.  158;  Senjirli  stela  of,  556, 
Fig.  181 ;  death  of,  556 

Esdraelon,  plain  of  (see  also  Jezreel), 
258,  287,  288,  291;  harvest  of,  292 

Eshmunen,  473 

Esneh,  160;  El  Kab  nomarchs  hold, 
229 

Ethics,  earliest,  65-66,  67;  influence 
from  Osiris  myth,  173-74,  250 

Ethiopia,  see  Xubia 

Ethiopian  Dynasty,  see  Twenty  Fifth 
Dynasty 

Ethiopians,  see  Xubians 

Etruscans,  407 

Euphrates,  3,  259,  284;  Egyptian 
designation  of,  11;  Middle  Kingdom 
commerce  on,  188;  first  campaign 
to  (  ? ) ,  254  :  northern  boundary  of 
conquest,  257;  valley  of,  258; 
sources  of.  201 ;  Mitannians  on,  202- 
63;  Thutmose  I's  boundary  tablet 
at,  264,  303  ;  Thutmose  III' crosses, 
303,  300  ;  Thutmose  Ill's  boundary 
tablet  at.  303;  Amenhotep  II's 
boundarv  tablet  at,  324  ;  reached  by 
Necho,  582,  583 

Europe  (see  also  JEgean,  Greek, 
Ionians,  Mycenaean,  etc. ) ,  earliest 
traces  of,  in  Egypt,  189 

Eusebius,  14 


612 


INDEX 


Ewibre,  202,  Fig.  88,  208 

Extradition,  treaty  of,  438 

Eye,  as  a  noble,  355,  369;  as  king, 

394;  tomb  at  Akhetaton,  394;  tomb 

at  Thebes,  394 
Ezekiel,  593 

F. 

Family,  85 

Famine,  160,  161 

"  Favourite  Place  of  Re,"  124 

Fayence,  95,  573 

Fayum,  5;  544;  origin  of,  6;  irriga- 
tion works  of  Twelfth  Dynasty  in, 
191-95,  198;  submits  to  Piankhi, 
544-45 

Feasts,  religious,  62,  401 ;  of  victory, 
294,  482;  of  Opet,  294,  309,  393, 
400,  420,  492,  541 

Fenkhu,  287 

Feudal,  age,  151-229;  lords  disap- 
pear, 229;  organization  of  Shes- 
honk  I,  528 ;  lords  under  Psamtik 
I,  567-68;  lords  in  Saite  period, 
567-68,  575 

Fief,  161 

"  First  of  the  Westerners,"  66 
Fish,  93 
Fishing,  90-91 
Flax,  96 

Flint,  early  wrought,  28 

Florence,  548 

Flv,  Order  of  the,  301 

"  Followers  of  His  Majesty,"  167 

Food,  88 

Furniture,  earliest,  28 ;  of  royal  pal- 
ace, 39,  88;  in  royal  tomb,  41;  of 
nobles,  88;  of  leather,  96;  Syrian, 
292 

G. 

Galilee,  taken  by  Ramses  II,  436 
Galla,  25 

Gaza,  285,  409;  captured  by  Necho, 
582 

Gebelen,  160;  Hyksos  monuments  at, 
221 

Gebel  Zebara,  416 
Gem-Aton,  361,  364,  393 
Geometry,  100-01 

Gezer,  387 ;  Sixth  Dynasty  scarab  at, 
135;  Middle  Kingdom  monuments 
at,  187;  Hittite  pottery  at,  262; 
Philistine  pottery  at,  512;  Thut- 
mose  IV  at,  328 ;  revolts  against 
Merneptah,  465 ;  captured  by  Mer- 
neptah,  466,  470 ;  presented  by 
Sheshonk  I  to  Solomon,  529 

Gibeon,  530 

Gilia,  334 

Ginti-Kirmil,  387 


Giraffe,  30 

Gizeh,  pyramids  of,  101,  117-19,  120. 

121,  122,  Map  2;  museum  of,  139 
Glaze,  earliest,  28,  39;  Old  Kingdom, 
96 

God,  rise  of  idea  of  universal,  359, 
376-77;  Ikhnaton  expunges  plural 
of,  363;  beneficence  of,  376-77 

Gods,  chief,  53-60;  expungement  of 
names  of,  363-64;  Ikhnaton  ex- 
punges the  word,  363 ;  triumph  and 
restoration  of,  401-02;  reinsertion 
of  names  of,  402 ;  Semitic,  in  Egypt, 
448,  460;  of  Asia  in  Egypt,  448, 
460 

"  God's-Land,"  127,  274,  276,  280,  319 
Gold,  sources  of,  6,  94,  136,  181, 
310,  314,  317,  331,  490,  491,  494; 
earliest  use  of,  28;  as  money,  97; 
royal  income  from  Nubian,  163; 
royal  income  from  Coptos,  163,  181; 
of  Wadi  Alaki,  181,  416,  421-22; 
of  Punt,  276;  of  Syria,  292,  293, 
325;  relative  value  of  silver  and, 
98,  185,  338;  due  from  officials,  238; 
images  of,  245;  commercial  rings 
of,  277,  307;  king  of  Mitanni  asks 
for,  334;  mines  of  Gebel  Zebara, 
416;  country  of  Amon,  457,  494; 
Osorkon  I  gives  vast  weight  of, 
531-32 

"  Gold  oi  Praise,"  141,  367,  Fig.  139, 
399,  Fig.  148,  509,  Fig.  177 

"  Gold  of  Valor,"  226,  227 

"Gold-house,"  104,  245;  double,  164 

Goldsmith,  earliest,  39;  in  Old  King- 
dom, 94,  104;  in  Middle  Kingdom, 
169,  201-02 

"  Good  God,"  74,  324 

Governor  (of  a  town),  237 

"  Governor  of  Foreign  Countries,"  141 

Governor  of  Gold  Country  of  Amon, 
457,  473 

"Governor  of  the  North,"  office  not 

found,  132 
Governor  of  the  north  countries,  312, 

322,  323 

"Governor  of  the  (Residence)  City," 
139,  154,  162;  vizier  appointed  as, 
133  139 

"Governor  of  the  South,"  132,  133, 
134,  135,  138;  as  honourary  title, 
138;  disappearance  of,  165;  reap- 
pearance in  Nubian  and  Saite 
times,  557,  568 

"  Governor  of  the  South  Countries  " 
(see  also  Nubia,  viceroy  of),  first 
appointment  of,  255 

Governor,  local,  79,  84;  hereditary 
succession,  126,  131;  becomes  hered- 


IXDEX 


613 


itarv  noble,  131-32;  disappearance 

of,  131 
Graffiti,  archaic,  30 
Grain,  92,  237 ;   due  from  officials, 

238 

Granary,  royal,  164,  237-38;  of 
nomarch,  158,  Fig.  79;  as  depart- 
ment of  White  House,  237-38 

Granite,  4,  6,  42,  49,  61,  104,  201, 
266,  442;  quarries,  93,  135,  136, 
281;  Khafre's  portal  of,  120 

"  Great  Chief,"  131 

"  Great  Chief  of  Artificers,"  63 

"Great  Circle,"  56,  261,  319 

Great  Council,  241 

"  Great  House,"  centralization  of  local 
administration  in,  80 

"  Great  Houses,"  six,  164,  166,  240 

"  Great  Lord,"  local  governor  be- 
comes, 131;  appointment  by  Phar- 
aoh, 131-32;  solicitude  for  domain 
bv,  132;  of  Hare-nome,  133,  134; 
of  Middle  Egvpt,  150 

"  Great  Men  of  the  Town,"  241 

"  Great  Seer,"  63,  360,  367 

Greece  (see  also  Greek),  260;  Egyp- 
tian commerce  with,  337 
.  Greek,  traditions  of  Egypt,  215,  566, 
578-79 ;  mercenaries,  566,  568,  569, 
578,  588,  589;  portraiture,  573; 
states  arise,  577-78;  colonies  in 
Egypt,  577-78,  590;  quarter  in 
Memphis,  577;  acquaintance  with 
Egypt,  578-79;  debt  to  Egypt,  579- 
80;  philosophy  derives  ideas  from 
Egypt,  580 

Gryphon,  91 

Gyges,  566 

H. 

Ha'abre',  586 
Hadadnirari,  352 
Halicarnassus,  590 

Hamath,  southern  limit  of  Hittite 
monuments,  380 

Hammamat,  quarries  at,  93,  159; 
Isesi  in,  128;  Pepi  I  in,  133;  Iti  in, 
143;  Imhotep  in,  143;  gap  in  rec- 
ords during  Seventh  and  Eighth 
Dynasties  at,  147;  Mentuhotep  III 
(Henu)  in,  153;  Mentuhotep  IV  in, 
153-54;  largest  expedition  to,  153- 
54 :  Middle  Kingdom  revenue  from, 
163,  164;  Amenemhet  I  in,  178; 
Ramses  IV  in,  507 

Hands  (cut  off  as  trophies),  264,  290 

Hapharaim,  530 

Hapuseneb,  272,  279,  362;  fall  of,  283 
Harem,  75,  85,  134,  179,  498-500 


Hare-nome,  133,  134,  159,  132,  163, 
201 

Harkhuf,  career  of,  138-39,  139-40 
Harmhab,  154,  242;  as  a  noble,  391, 
399;  reign  of,  400-08;  rise  of,  399- 
400;  restoration  of,  401-06;  reforms 
of,  403-06;  foreign  policy  of,  406- 
07;  tomb  of,  408,  Fig.  119,  Fig.  147, 
Fig.  148,  Fig.  150 
Harp,  349 

Harris,  Papyrus,  491 ;  origin  of,  505-06 
Harsaphes,  196 
Harun  er-Rashid,  349 
Harzozef,  123,  206 

Hathor,  46;  as  a  destroyer  of  men, 
56;  of  Dendera,  59;  of  Sanai,  115, 
190 

Hatiba,  517 

Hatnub,  93;  opened  by  Khufu,  119; 
Pepi  I  at,  133;  records  of  nomarchs 
of  Hare-nome  during  Seventh  and 
Eighth  Dynasties  at,  148;  colossus 
cut  from,  159 

Hatshepsut,  215,  222,  228;  parent- 
age of,  266;  rise  of  partv  of.  266- 
67;  reign  of,  267,  269-70,  271-83; 
rise  of,  269;  deposition  of,  271;  co- 
regency  of,  271;  triumph  of  party 
of,  271:  leaders  of  the  partv  of, 
272,  283 ;  their  fall,  283 ;  court  fic- 
tion of  birth  of,  272-73;  coronation 
by  the  gods,  273;  tomb  of,  279; 
extent  of  empire  of,  279-80;  restor- 
ation of  temples  bv,  280;  jubilee  of, 
280-82;  obelisks  'of,  280-82,  Fig. 
114;  Sinai  expeditions,  282;  death 
of,  282;  Thutmose  Ill's  treatment 
of  deceased,  282-83 

Hatshepsut-Meretre,  318 

Hatsho,  481,  482 

Haunebu,  188-89 

Hauran,  stela  of  Seti  I  in,  410;  stela 
of  Ramses  II  in.  436 

Hawara,  pyramid  of,  198-200 

Hawk  (sacred  animal),  38,  40,  n.  2, 
319;  as  sun-god,  54;  bearing  dead, 
65;  golden,  of  Hieraconpolis,  104-05 

Heart,  as  mind,  357-58 

Hebrews  (see  also  Israel),  Egyptian 
origin  of  Messianic  prophecv  of, 
205;  in  Egypt.  220.  447;  tradition 
of  Joseph,  229;  tradition  of,  238; 
strategic  situation  of,  262;  settle  in 
Palestine,  409-10;  Ramses  II  prob- 
able oppressor  of,  446-47 :  exodus 
of,  447 ;  Egyptian  larded  with  lan- 
guage of,  448-49 ;  prophets  of  the, 
536:  retrospection  of,  571;  rejoice 
at  Necho's  defeat,  584 

Heh,  184 


614 


INDEX 


Heliopolis,  44,  121,  268;  High  Priest 
of,  62-63,  126;  Middle  Kingdom 
temple  at,  196-97;  residence  of 
northern  vizier,  236,  240,  405,  443; 
judicial  court  of,  241;  sacerdotally 
inferior  to  Thebes,  247;  origin  of 
Aton  theology  at,  360;  temple  of 
Seti  I  at,  415;  Ramses  IPs  build- 
ings at,  443 

Hellenium,  591 

Hemset,  103 

Henu,  153 

Heracleopolis,  44,  150;  supremacy  of, 

148-  51;  supported  by  Siut  no- 
marchs,  149-51;  war  with  Thebes, 

149-  51,  534;  fall  of,  152;  temple 
at,  196;  Ramses  IPs  temple  at,  445; 
absorbed  by  Libyan  family,  526-27 ; 
Post-Empire  principality  of,  527, 
528,  532,  534,  540-42,  569 

Herald,  royal,  226;  duties  of,  311 
Herds,  92-93 

Hereditary  succession  in  office,  rise 

of,  126-27,  131 
Herenkeru,  293 
Hermes,  —  Thoth,  59 
Hermonthis,  149-50 
Hermcpolis,  59,473,540-42;  captured 

by  Piankhi,  541 
Hermopolis  Parva,  544 
Hermotybies,  568,  569 
Herodotus,  in  Egypt,  578 
Hesebka,  544 

Hesire,  wooden  panels  of,  105,  Fig. 
59 

Hezekiah,  551 

Hieraconpolis,  33,  40,  44,  46,  47,  49, 
119 

Hieratic,  99-100;  displaced  by  demot- 
ic, 574 

Hieroglyphic  (see  also  Writing) ,  Saite 
revival  of  archaic,  574,  576 

"  High  Place,"  at  Gezer,  187 

High  Priest  (see  also  Amon),  62;  in 
Empire,  248 

Hippopotamus,  30,  91 ;  slain  by 
Pharaoh,  39 ;  noise  of,  223 

Hittites,  447 ;  earliest  industries  of, 
188;  civilization  of,  379-81;  use  of 
cuneiform  by,  262 ;  send  gifts  to 
Thutmose  III,  304,  315;  invade 
Mitanni,  352;  invade  Syria,  352- 
53;  absorb  Syria,  379-87,  413; 
writing  of,  380;  early  relations  of 
Egypt  and,  381;  embassy  to  Ikh- 
naton,  381;  and  Harmhab,  407; 
treaty  with  Seti  I,  412,  423;  war 
with  Ramses  II,  423-41 ;  allies  of, 
424,  465;  temporarily  dislodged 
from  southern  Syria,  436;  Ramses 


II  concludes  treaty  of  peace  with, 
437-39;  gods  of,  438;  Ramses  II 
marries  princess  of,  439-40;  Egyp- 
tian trade  with,  447-48 ;  Merneptah 
at  peace  with,  465;  Merneptah's 
war  with,  465-66,  470;  lose  Syria, 
479 ;  Ramses  III  righting,  483 ;  last 
hostilities  between  Egypt  and,  483; 
sift  into  Palestine,  512 
Hlc\  217 

Holy  of  Holies,  61 
Hophra',  586 
Hor,  568 

"  Horizon  of  Horus,"  162 

Horse,  introduced  by  Hyksos,  222, 
234;  as  tribute,  271;  in  Syria,  289, 
290,  292,  316;  from  Babylon,  296; 
kindness  to,  541 

Horus,  38,  40,  n.  2,  46;  temple  of,  40, 
46;  Thinite  worship  of,  46;  as  son 
of  Osiris  and  Isis,  58;  feud  with 
Set,  58 ;  popularity  of,  59 ;  four 
sons  of,  65;  of  Heracleopolis,  148; 
Pool  of,  331;  of  Alabastronpolis, 
400,  402 

"Horus"  (royal  title),  38,  122,  124; 

applied  to  a  queen!,  269 
"Horus,  Worshippers  of,"  36,  46 
"Worship  of  Horus"  (feast  called), 

46 

Hotep-Sesostris,  87,  194,  198 
"  House  of  the  North,"  47 
"  House  of  Thirty,"  164,  166 
Hrihor,  513,  515,  519,  520;  usurpa- 
tion of,  520-21 ;  reign  of,  522-23 
Hua,  331 

Hunting,  in  first  two  dynasties,  39; 

in  Old  Kingdom,  89-90 ;  in  Empire, 

350-51 
Huy,  394 
"  Hyk,"  217 

Hyksos,  214-27;  origin  of,  216,  217, 
218,  219-20;  origin  of  name  of, 
217;  in  Memphis,  216;  called  Asi- 
atics, 217;  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt 
tributary  to,  216,  221;  Josephus  on 
the,  216-17;  monuments  of,  in 
Crete,  218;  in  Bagdad,  218;  in  Pal- 
estine, 218;  wide  empire  of,  218-19; 
Kadesh,  seat  of  empire  of,  219-20, 
317;  reign  of,  220-22;  date  of  rise 
of,  221;  length  of  rule  of,  221;  bar- 
barities of,  221-22,  264;  benefits 
from  rule  of,  22 ;  expulsion  ofs 
223-27 

Hypostyle,  343 

I. 

Iannas,  221 
Ibhet,  330 


INDEX 


615 


Ibis,  bearing  dead,  65 

Ibrim,  256,  330.  331,  507 

Ikathi,  323,  324 

Ikhernofret,  166,  185 

Ikhnaton,  parentage  of,  355;  acces- 
sion of,  355;  advisers  of,  355-56; 
idealistic  character  of,  355-56, 
376-77 ;  religious  revolution  of, 
359-78;  changes  his  name,  363- 
64;  as  high  priest  of  Aton,  360; 
abandons  Thebes,  364;  conciliation 
of  officials  by,  367-69 ;  composes 
hymns  to  Aton,  371-76;  naturalism 
of,  377-78;  influence  on  art,  378; 
Asiatic  rule  of,  379-89;  leniency, 
385-86;  loss  of  Asiatic  empire  by, 
382-89;  consequences  of  religious 
revolution  of,  390-91;  failure  of, 
390-91;  foes  of,  390-91,  402;  de- 
struction of  tomb  of,  402;  later 
designation  of,  402 

Ikudidi,  182 

Illahun,  87,  198 

Image,  cultus,  61-62 

Imhotep  (king),  143 

Imhotep.  83,  107,  206;  career  of,  112- 

.    13;  popularity  in  Saite  period,  575 

Immorality,  86 

Immortality,  66;  conferred  by  Osiris, 
66 

Incense,  276 

Industries,  in  Old  Kingdom,  92-98; 

in  the  nomes,  160 
Ineni,  265 ;  under  Thutmose  I,  265, 

266,    278-79;    under  Hatshepsut, 

271-72 

Inheritance,  line  of,  86;  of  avocation, 
169 

Instruction,  literature  of,  see  Litera- 
ture 

Intefs,  of  the  Eleventh  Dvnastv, 
150-56;  of  the  Thirteenth  Dy- 
nasty, 212;  pyramids  of  Thirteenth 
Dynasty,  212 

Intef  (nomarch),  150 

Intef  I,  reign  of,  151 

Intef  II,  151 

Intef  III,  152 

Intef  (Thutmose  Ill's  herald),  310- 
11 ;  governor  of  the  oases,  305 

Interpreters,  in  Greek  times,  578 

Inundation,  7-9;  influence  on  me- 
chanical skill,  9 ;  government  ob- 
servation of,  191,  211,  239 

Ionians.  566,  590;  as  mercenaries, 
566,  568,  569 

Ipuwer,  204,  546 

I  rem,  313 

Iri,  138 

Iron,  source  (?)  of,  136 


Irrigation,  8-9,  160;  by  TwelMi  Dy- 
nasty, 191-94;  controlled  by  vizier, 
244 

Irthet,  137;  location  of,  13V,  expe- 
dition to,  139,  141 

Isaiah,  548,  551,  552 

Isesi,  expedition  to  Hammamat,  128; 
expedition  to  Punt,  128,  140 

Ishtar,  334 ;  sent  to  Egypt,  353-54 

Isis,  66;  parentage  of,  56;  Ynyth  of 
Isis,  58,  59;  flourishes  in  Saite 
times,  575;  popularity  of,  59-60 

Isis  (wife  of  Thutmose  I),  207 

"  Isles  of  the  Sea,"  261,  424;  con- 
trolled by  Egypt,  305;  Syria  in- 
vaded by  peoples  of,  479 

Israel  (see  also  Hebrews  and  Pales- 
tine), life  hereafter  in,  173; 
Hyksos  king,  a  chief  of  Israel.  220; 
entrance  into  Egypt,  220;  revolts 
against  Merneptah,  465;  punished 
by  Merneptah,  466;  earliest  refer- 
ence to,  466,  470;  stela,  471-72: 
rise  of  the  nation,  526 ;  Egyptian 
partv  in,  536 ;  revolts  against  Shal- 
maneser  IV,  549 ;  fall  of,  549 

Itakama,  382,  387 

Ithtowe,  157,  179,  196;  founding  of, 
157;  seat  of  six  courts  of  justice, 
164 

Iti,  142 

Ivory,  28,  39,  136,  141,  276,  277; 
from  Libya,  280 

J. 

Jackal,  319 
Jackal-nome,  162 
Jacob,  220 
Jacob-El,  220 
Jacob-Her,  220,  22-1 
Jehoahaz,  583 
Jehoiachin,  586 
Jehoiakim,  583 
Jeremiah,  584,  587,  593 
Jeroboam,  529 

Jerusalem,  earliest  mention  of.  387 ; 
plundered  by  Sheshonk  I,  530 ;  de- 
livered from  Sennacherib,  552 ;  cap- 
tured by  Nebuchadrezzar  (first 
time),  584;  (second  time),  586- 
587;  destruction  of.  587 

Jewelrv.  earliest,  39-40;  Thinite.  50; 
in  Old  Kingdom,  94;  in  Middle 
Kingdom,  202-03.  Figs.  97-98,  213; 
in  Empire,  252,  Fig.  103 

Jezreel  (see  also  Esdraelon),  287, 
410,  512,  530 

Joppa,  312;  tale  of  capture  of,  312, 
454 


616 


INDEX 


Jordan,  258,  530 

Joseph,  229,  238,  244,  443,  447;  offi- 
cial position  of,  244;  Egyptian 
origin  of  tale  of  temptation  of,  455 

Josephus,  14,  214,  215,  216 

Josiah,  582 

Jubilee,  royal,  39 

Judah  (see  also  Palestine),  227,  258, 
530;  plots  with  Egypt  against 
Assyria,  550-51;  devastated  by 
Sennacherib,  552;  resists  Necho, 
582;  rejoices  at  Necho's  defeat, 
584;  Nebuchadrezzar  deports  chief 
families  of,  584;  carried  captive 
by  Nebuchadrezzar,  586-87 

Judea,  284 

Judge,  7,  134,  165;  in  Old  Kingdom, 
79,  80-82,  126;  vizier  as  chief,  82, 
119,  139;  chief,  son  of  Khufu,  119; 
chief,  in  Middle  Kingdom,  154;  in 
Empire,  239-42,  405-06,  499-500; 
Harmhab  remits  tax  on  office  of, 
405 

Judgment  of  dead,  earliest,  65,  67; 
Osirian,  173-74,  175,  249-50;  eva- 
sion of,  249-50 

Justice,  administration  of,  in  First 
and  Second  Dynasties,  42;  in  Old 
Kingdom,  80-82,  134;  in  nome, 
158;  in  Middle  Kingdom,  164-65, 
166;  in  Empire,  239-42,  405-06, 
499-500,  510-11;  corruption  in, 
241-42,  405-06,  500,  510-11 


K. 

Ka,  63-64 
Kaamenhotep,  535 
Kabyles,  26 

Kadesh,  219,  259,  263,  483;  map  of 
vicinity  of,  426;  seat  of  Hyksos 
power,  219-20,  259;  commanding 
location  of,  259,  299-300;  leader- 
ship against  Thutmose  III,  284-85, 
315-16;  king  of,  290,  291,  293,  his 
family,  292;  spoil  of,  292;  strength 
of,  299-300;  first  siege  of,  301; 
first  capture  of,  301;  second  siege 
and  capture  of,  316;  final  suppres- 
sion of,  317;  seized  by  Itakama, 
382;  held  by  Hittites,  413,  423; 
as  ally  of  Hittites,  424,  battle  of, 
427-35;  report  of  battle  of,  433- 
34;  Ramses  II  takes,  436;  poem  on 
battle  of,  434,  453 ;  reliefs  of  battle 
of,  433-34,  451-53 

Kadesh  (in  Galilee),  412 

Fafr,  119 

Kakai,  birth  of,  123 
Kalabsheh,  317 


Kallimmasin  (Kadashman-Bel) ,  let- 
ters of,  to  Amenhotep,  III,  332-33 

Karnak,  252;  plan  of,  444;  Ahmose 
I  in,  252;  gate  of  Amenhotep  I  in, 
254,  296;  building  of  Thutmose  I 
in,  263-66;  halls  of  Thutmose  III, 
294-95,  296-297;  Hatshepsut  in, 
280-82;  royal  list  of,  297;  building 
of  Amenhotep  II,  326;  building  of 
Amenhotep  III  at,  344;  garden, 
344;  building  of  Seti  I,  414-15; 
great  hall  of,  408,  414-15,  417,  443, 
450-51;  Ramses  II  at,  443;  temple 
of  Ramses  III  at,  487 ;  Khonsu  tem- 
ple of,  487,  Fig.  183,  507,  519-21, 
523-24;  Twenty  Second  Dynasty 
buildings,  531;  first  pylon,  531; 
Shabaka's  buildings  at,  553 

Karoy,  325;  southern  boundary  at, 
330;  gold  of,  331 

Kash,  387 

Kashta,  539 

Kasr-Sayyad,  132 

Katna,  302,  335-36,  352,  353 

Keb,  54,  55,  56;  parentage  of,  56 

Kebehu-Hor,  331 

Kedesh,  460 

Keftyew,    261,    319;    character  and 

home  of,  261;  in  Egypt,  338 
Kegemne,  instruction  of,  83,  107,  204 
Kehek,  477,  485 
Keheni,  543 

Kemose,  reign  of,  224,  225 
Keper,  481,  482 
Ketne,  same  as  Katna,  q.  v. 
Kezweden,  424 

Khabiri,  353;  absorb  Palestine,  387- 
89 

Khafre,  reign  of,  120,  121 
Khai,  385 

Khamwese,  461,  462 
Khani,  385 
Khartum,  4 

Khasekhem,  statues  of,  40,  47,  Figs. 

20,  21;  war  with  Delta,  47;  Hiera- 

conpolis  vase  of,  47  (Figs.  20,  21). 
Khasekhemui,  111;  tomb  of,  42,  Fig. 

25;  last  king  of  Second  Dynasty, 

111 
Khayu,  36 
Khenzer,  221 
Khepri,  59 
Khereha,  543,  544 
Kheta,  see  Hittites 
Kheta,  Great,  381 

Khetasar,  accession  of,  437;  makes 
treaty  of  peace  with  Ramses  II, 
437-39;  gives  daughter  to  Ramses 
II,    439-40;    visits    Egypt,  439; 


INDEX 


617 


gives  second  daughter  to  Ramses 

II,  440 

Kheti  I  (nomarch  of  Siut),  149 
\heti  II  (nomarcn  of  Siut),  150-51 
Kheti  (treasurer  of  Mentuhotep  II), 
152 

Kheti  (daughter  of  nomarch),  162 

Khian,  217,  221,  wide  range  of  monu- 
ments of,  218;  in  Crete,  218;  in 
Bagdad,  218;  same  as  Iannas,  221 

Khnum,  receives  Dodekaschoinos,  112, 
491,  495 

Khnumhotep  I,  156,  161-62 

Khnumhotep  II,  162;  Asiatics  in 
tomb  of,  187 

Bjotstdm-Khufu,  116 

Khonsu,  Ramses  Ill's  temple  of,  487, 
Fig.  183;  continued  by  Ramses  IV, 
507 ;  continued  by  Ramses  XII  and 
Hrihor,  519-21;  continued  by  Pay- 
nozem  I,  523-24 

Khufu,  parentage  of,  116;  reign  of, 
116-20,  121;  folk-tale  of,  122-23 

Kina,  2S8,  289 

Kinanat,  353 

Kingship,  origin  of,  74 

"  King's-Son  of  Kush,"  first  appoint- 
ment of.  255 

Kode,  as  ally  of  Hittites,  424,  439 

Korusko,  178 

Koser,  142,  183 

Kubban,  255,  330,  416;  stela,  422 
Kumidi,  385,  388 

Kummeh,  181,  317;  fortress  of,  184, 
185 

Kurigalzu,  fidelitv  toward  Amenhotep 

III,  332 
Kurna,  415 

Kush  (see  also  Xubia).  location  of, 
136-37;  first  mention  of,  137,  141; 
first  campaign  in,  180;  campaigns 
of  Sesostris  I  in,  180-81;  cam- 
paigns of  Sesostris  III  in,  184-87; 
King's-son  of,  see  Xubia;  limits  of, 
255;  government  of,  255,  256,  317; 
viceroy  of,  see  Xubia. 

Kuyunjik,  553 

L. 

Labour  (=  Taxes),  238 

Labourers,  treatment  of,  414,  496 

Labvrinth.  194.  200:  Cretan.  194 

Lachish,  387;  Hittite  pottery  at,  262; 
Philistine  pottery  at,  512 

Lake,  artificial,  349 

Lamares.  193 

Lamb,  prophesying,  547 

Land,  ownership  of,  in  first  two  dy- 
nasties, 44 ;  registration  of,  in  Old 
Kingdom,  82;  owned  by  Phajaoh, 


84,  229,  237;  held  by  nobles,  84-85, 
237;  held  by  middle  class,  85,  169, 
237;  held  by  nomarch,  161;  office, 
165;  of  El  Kab  nomarchs  not  con- 
fiscated, 229;  of  feudal  lords  con- 
fiscated, 229;  cases  (legal),  240; 
held  by  temples,  491,  493;  price  of, 
524-25;  in  Saite  period,  574 

Language,  Egyptian,  Semitic  struc- 
ture of.  25;  African  tincture,  25 

Lapis-lazuli,  296,  304,  344 

Law,  in  Old  Kingdom,  81;  in  Middle 
Kingdom,  165,  242 ;  in  Empire,  242, 
404-06;  public  access  to  code  of, 
242;  Pharaoh  subject  to,  242; 
Pharaoh  source  of,  242,  404-06; 
against  corrupt  officials,  405-06; 
Bocchoris  giver  of,  547;  Amasis  re- 
vises system  of,  591 

Lead,  earliest  use  of,  28 

Learning,  98-100 

Leather,  96,  404;  manuscript  rolls  of, 
197,  313 

Lebanon,  259,  260,  515;  intercourse 
with,  in  Old  Kingdom,  115-42:  in 
Middle  Kingdom,  168;  conformation 
of,  258;  anti-,  258,  259;  Tripolis  in, 
293 ;  Thutmose  Ill's  fortress  in, 
293;  revolt  against  Amenhotep  II, 
324;  Thutmose  IV  in,  328;  Seti  I 
in,  410;  city  of  Ramses  II  in,  425; 
controlled  by  Xecho,  587 

Lebu,  466 

Lector  (or  Ritual  Priest),  171 
Letopolis.  544 

Letters,  98,  455,  514,  516;  of  Pharaoh, 
77,  140,  141,  166,  185,  520;  model, 
203,  455 

Leucos  Limgn,  142,  183 

Libya,  585 

Libvans,  319 ;  immigration  into  Esrvpt, 
7,  31,  32.  47,  49,  179,  254.  411.  462, 
466-71,  474,  477-78,  481-83,  526-27; 
kinship  with  Egyptians.  25-26,  31- 
32 :  earliest  wars  of  Egypt  with, 
47,  49;  Amenemhet  Pa  war  with, 
179;  Amenhotep  I's  war  with.  254: 
Seti's  war  with.  411-12;  peoples  of 
the,  466-67;  origin  of.  467;  Merne- 
ptah's  war  with.  468-71;  northern 
allies  of,  467-68,  477-78;  first  de- 
feat by  Ramses  III,  478;  invaded 
bv  Meshwesh.  481;  second  defeat 
by  Ramses  III,  481-83;  gain  high 
official  position  at  court.  497.  500; 
absorb  the  Delta,  526-27;  gain  the 
throne,  527-28;  lords  of,  in  Twenty 
Second  Dynasty,  see  Meshwesh;  de- 
cline of  Egypt  under,  547-48;  be- 
come a  military  class  in  Egypt,  568; 


618 


INDEX 


as  mercenaries,  449,  477,  485,  526, 

528-29,  532-33,  534,  568,  588;  Cy- 

rene  encroaches  upon,  588 
Libyan  Dynasty,  see  Twenty  Second 

and  Twenty  Third  Dynasties;  see 

Libyans 
Limestone,  5 

Linen,  96;  fineness  of,  96;  due  from 

officials,  238 
Lion,  30,  319,  372;  order  of  the,  301; 

hunting,  350-51;  king's  tame,  489 
Lisht,  157,  198 
Litany,  425 

Literature,  of  the  Old  Kingdom,  107- 
08;  of  the  Middle  Kingdom,  203-08; 
earliest,  of  entertainment,  203 ;  arti- 
ficial style  in,  204;  of  instruction, 
204,  458-59;  impersonal  character 
of,  207 ;  form  and  content  of,  207- 
08;  of  the  Empire,  318-19,  453-55; 
of  the  Nubian  period,  545 

Logos,  358 

London  obelisk  of  Thutmose  III  at, 

306 

"  Look  behind,"  65 
Louis  XV,  349 
Lubim,  559 
Luli,  551 
Lute,  349 
Luther,  250 

Luxor,  building  of  Ahmose  I  in,  252; 
temple  of  Amenhotep  III  in,  343- 
44;  building  of  Ramses  II  in,  451 

Lycians,  338;  as  allies  of  Hittites, 
424,  467;  plunder  the  Delta,  462; 
as  allies  of  Libyans,  467 ;  gain  high 
official  position  at  Egyptian  court, 
500 

Lydia,  566,  593 
Lying,  173 
Lyre,  349 

M. 

Mace,  pear-shaped,  28,  40 

Magic,  123;  influence  on  medicine, 
101-02;  mortuary  (see  also  Book 
of  the  Dead),  175,  249-50;  Ikhna- 
ton  suppresses  mortuary,  369-70, 
390;  evil  influence  on  religion  of, 
249-50,  459;  in  harem  conspiracy, 
498 

Magician,  123 

Magnate  of  the  Southern  Ten,  79-80, 
165 

Mahanaim,  530 
Maharbaal,  500 
Mai,  369 

Makere,  see  Hatshepsut 
Malachite,  344,  485 
Mamlukes,  214,  229,  548 


Manakhbiria,  317,  383 
Manetho,  13-14,  36 
Mani,  334 

Mardukbaliddin,   forms   coalition  in 

west,  551 
Marea,  569 
Mariette,  252 
Marriage,  85,  86 
Maryland,  6 

Masonry,  earliest,  27-28;  brick,  41, 
42;  stone,  42,  Fig.  25;  of  great 
pyramid,  118;  temple,  343 

Mastaba,  68-69,  Fig.  34,  Fig.  57;  of 
Zoser,  113;  disappearance  of,  176, 
198;  Saite  revival  of  sculptures  of 
Old  Kingdom,  571 

Mathematics,  100-101 

Matnefrure,  439 

Matoi,  137 

Matuga,  186 

Maxyes,  466 

Mayor,  237 

Mazoi,  location  of,  137;  as  merce- 
naries, 137,  424;  prisoners,  178 

Mechanics,  101 

Medes,  582,  583,  593 

Medicine,  earliest  books  on,  45,  76; 
knowledge  of,  101 ;  transition  to 
Europe,  101 ;  cultivated  by  Imhotep, 
112 

Medicis,  548 

Medinet  Habu,  temple  records  in, 
486-87;  dedication  of,  492;  treas- 
ury of,  493 

Mediterranean,  259 ;  culture  signifi- 
cance of  eastern,  3,  4;  commerce 
on,  447 

Medum,  ducks,  106,  Fig.  55;  pyramid 
of,  115 

Megiddo,  287,  387,  530;  map  of,  286; 
occupation  by  King  of  Kadesh, 
287;  pass  of,  288;  Thutmose  Ill's 
march  to,  287-89;  battle  of,  289- 
90;  siege  of,  290-91;  fall  of,  291; 
spoil  of,  292 

Meketaton,  392 

Mekhu,  141 

Memphis,  5,  37,  44,  132,  141,  196; 
supremacy  of,  111;  origin  of  name 
of,  132-33;  fall  of,  148;  Hyksos  in, 
216;  sacerdotal  inferiority  to 
Thebes,  247 ;  temple  of  Ahmose  I 
in,  252;  building  of  Amenhotep  I 
in,  326 ;  theology  of,  356-58 ;  under 
Nubians,  542-43,  554-56,  558-59; 
temple  of  Seti  I  at,  415;  temple  of 
Ramses  II  at,  443 ;  under  the  As- 
syrians, 555-57,  559,  565;  under 
Saites,  577-78,  591,  592;  buildings 
of  Amasis  in,  591 


INDEX 


619 


Menes,  74;  reign  of,  36-37;  tomb  of, 
37;  regalia  of.  37,  and  Fig.  13; 
tablet  of,  Fig.  27 

Mendes,  535,  543,  544 

Menet-Khufu,  116.  162,  187 

Menkheperre  (High  Priest  of  Amon) , 
524 

Menkheperre-seneb,  295.  317 
Mexkure,  127;  reign  of,  121 
Mentemhet,    557-58,    559,   565,  567, 
568 

Mextuhoteps,  150-156 
Mextuhotep  I,  151 
Mextuhotep  II,  152 
Mextuhotep  III,  152-53 
Mextuhotep  IV,  153-54 
Mentuhotep  (commander  in  Nubia), 

166,  181 
Mentuhotep  (vizier),  164 
Merasar,  412,  437 

Mercenaries,  Nubian,  134,  137,  330, 
336,  424,  449;  Beduin,  386;  Sher- 
den,  336,  386,  424-25,  448,  Fig.  163, 
449,  477,  485;  sources  of,  449-50; 
Libvan,  449,  477,  526,  528-29,  532- 
33,  534,  568,  588;  Kehek,  477,  485; 
Meshwesh,  526;  Carian,  566,  568, 
569 Greek,  566,  568,  569,  578, 
588 ;  Syrian,  569,  588 ;  desertion  of, 
569,  588 ;  dependence  of  Saites 
upon,  569-70;  attempt  flight  to 
Nubia,  588;  desert  Apries,  588 

Merchants,  in  Old  Kingdom,  85;  in 
Middle  Kingdom,  168,  170;  in  Em- 
pire, 246,  448;  Phoenician,  260-61, 
448,  577;  Saite,  577,  590;  Greek, 
577,  590 

Merikere,  150 

Merire,  367 

Meritaton,  391 

Mermeshu,  212 

Mermose,  330 

Merxeptah,  456;  reign  of,  464-72; 
Asiatic  war  of,  447,  465-66;  sends 
grain  to  Hittites,  465;  resubdues 
Palestine,  465-66;  punishes  Israel, 
466;  Libyan  war  of,  468-71;  build- 
ings of,  471;  vandalism  of,  471- 
72 ;  destroys  mortuary  temple  of 
Amenhotep*  III,  471;  body  of,  472; 
strife  after  death  of.  472-73 

Merxeptah-Siptah,  472-73 

Merxere,  parentage  of,  134;  reign  of, 
135-39;  relief  at  first  cataract,  137; 
visit  to  Nubia,  137;  burial  of,  139; 
body  of,  139,  Fig.  77 

Meroe,  561,  585 

Meryey,  467,  468,  478;  dethronement 

of,  469 
Mesed,  544 


Mesedsure,  498-500 

Meshesher,  481,  482 

Meshwesh,  home  of,  466;  invade 
Libyan  country,  481 ;  invade  Egypt, 
481;  defeat  of,  481-82;  comman- 
ders absorb  the  Delta,  526-27 ;  ap- 
propriate Heracleopolis,  526-27 ; 
commanders  during  Twenty  Second 
and  Twentv  Third  Dvnasties,  528- 
29,  532-33.*  534,  535-36 

Messiah,  205 

Metella,  413;  treaty  with  Seti  I,  413, 
423;  allies  and  mercenaries  of,  424; 
at  the  battle  of  Kadesh,  427,  452; 
death  of,  437 

Methen,  88 

Middle  Class,  in  Old  Kingdom,  85; 
in  Middle  Kingdom,  164,  165,  168- 
70;  in  the  army,  167,  234-35; 
tombs  of,  251 

Middle  Kingdom,  rise  of,  149-56; 
state  in,  157-68;  Nubian  conquest 
in,  152.  180-87;  relations  with 
Asia,  187-91;  irrigation  enterprises 
of,  191-94;  development  of  Delta  by, 
188,  197;  development  of  Sanai  bv, 
163,  164,  182,  190-91:  art  of,  201- 
02;  literature  of,  203-08;  fall  of, 
208-12  :  anarchy  following,  211-14 

Miebis.  47;  campaign  of,  in  Sinai,  48 

"  Mighty  is  Khekure,"  184 

Miletus,  591 

"  Militarv    Commander    of  Middle 

Egypt,"  149 
"Militarv  Commander  of  the  Whole 

Land,"*  150 
Mind,  357-58 
Mining,  190-91 

Min,  46,  archaic  statues  of,  28 ; 
power  in  Hammamat,  153;  relation 
to  Amon,  248 

MlSPHRAGMOUTHOSIS,  220 

Mitanni,  262,  319;  origin  of  people 
of,  262-63;  hostility  to  Thutmose 
III,  285;  Thutmose  III  in,  303; 
revolt  against  Amenhotep  II,  323- 
25 ;  alliance  of  Thutmose  IV  with, 
328 ;  Thutmose  IV  marries  daugh- 
ter of  king  of  .  328 ;  seeks  alliance 
with  Egypt,  332;  alliance  of  Amen- 
hotep ill  with.  333,  353-54;  royal 
marriages  betweeen  Egypt  and,  333  ; 
invaded  by  Hittites,  352 ;  seeks 
alliance  with  Ikhnaton,  379;  latest 
reference  to,  530 

Mitylene,  590 

Moab,  258 ;  plots  with  Egypt  against 
Assvria,  550-51,  551;  againtt 
Babylon,  586 

Moeris,  Lake,  193 


620 


INDEX 


Mohammed  Ali,  229 
Mohammedans,  576 
Money,  earliest,  97-98 
Monkeys,  276 

Monuments,  vast  number  surviving, 
11 

Moon-god,  see  Thoth 
Moslem,  248;  viceroys,  214;  Egypt, 
214 

Mother,  inheritance  through,  86,  149, 

161 ;  duty  toward,  86 
"  Mount  of  the  Horns  of  the  Earth," 

468,  482;  fortified  by  Ramses  III, 

479 

Mummies,  royal,  concealment  at  Der 
el-Bahri,  525;  discovery  of,  525-26 
Mummy,  burial  of,  69 
Murder,  173 
Musen,  526-27 

Music,  in  Old  Kingdom,  109;  in  Em- 
pire, 248,  349 

Musical  instruments,  in  Old  King- 
dom, 109-10 

Musri,  549,  551 

Mut,  Karnak  temple  of,  344;  banish- 
ment of,  by  Ikhnaton,  370 
Mutemuya,  328 
Mutnezmet,  401 
Mutnofret,  267 
Mycenae,  338 

Mycenaean,  Age,  188,  261 ;  civilization 
and  Egypt,  261;  settlements  in, 
commerce  with  Egypt.  337-38;  art 
influenced  by  Egypt,  338 

Myrrh,  276,  277,  305;  source  of,  127; 
terraces,  274;  traffic  in,  274 

Mvsians,  as  allies  of  Hittites,  424 

Myth,  54-60;  of  Re,  54,  58-59;  of 
Osiris,  58,  59-60,  171-72,  174,  207, 
250;  philosophical  interpretation 
of,  356-58;  dramatized,  171-72,  207 

N. 

Nabopolassar,  583 
Nabuna'id,  593 

Naharin,  Thutmose  I  in,  263-64 ;  first 
revolt  against  Thutmose  III,  283- 
84;  Thutmose  III  in,  302-03;  sec- 
ond revolt  against  Thutmose  III  in, 
314;  third  revolt  against  Thutmose 
III,  315-16;  remembrance  of  Thut- 
mose III  in,  317;  revolt  against 
Amenhotep  II,  323-25;  Thutmose 
IV  in,  328 ;  northern  frontier  in, 
330 ;  loyalty  to  Amenhotep  III, 
353;  Hittite  invasion  of,  353;  as 
ally  of  Hittites,  424;  temporarily 
recovered  by  Ramses  II,  436,  438- 
39;  Egyptian  trade  with,  447;  tale 
of  daughter  of  king  of,  454 


Nahr  el-Kebir,  315-16 
Nahr  el-Kelb,  see  Dog  River 

Nahum,  559-60,  582 
Nakht,  162 

Namlot  (king  of  Hermopolis),  540-42 
Namlot  (son  of  Meshwesh  chief  She- 

shonk),  527 
Napata,  331;  southern  limit  of  Nu- 
bian   viceroy's    jurisdiction,  255; 
southern    frontier    established  at, 
325,  450;  first  capital  of  Nubian 
kingdom,  538 ;  Taharka's  buildings 
at,  558 ;  Tanutamon's  buildings  at, 
558 ;  forsaken  as  capital  of  Nubian 
kingdom,  561 
Napoleon,  291,  294,  311,  320 
Narmee,  war  with  Delta,  47 ;  Libyan 

war  of,  49 
Nastesen,  561 

Naucratis,  founding  of,  590;  Greek 

character  of,  590 
Navy    (see   also   Ships),  243,  480; 

Saite,  582,  593 
Nebesheh,  188 

Nebuchadrezzar,  576;  defeats  Necho, 
583-84 ;  conquers  Syria-Palestine, 
583-84;  captures  Jerusalem  (first 
time),  584,  (second  time) ,  586,  587  ; 
attempts  punishment  of  Egypt, 
592-93 ;  death  of,  593 

Necho  (dynast  of  Sais),  556,  557; 
death  of,  558,  565 

Necho,  recovers  Syria-Palestine,  582- 
83 ;  defeated  at  Carchemish,  583- 
84 ;  relinquishes  Syria-Palestine, 
584;  reexcavates  the  Nile-Red  Sea 
canal,  584;  sends  expedition  to  cir- 
cumnavigate Africa,  585 

Nefebhotep,  221 ;  reign  of,  212;  stelae 
of,  212;  vizier  of,  221 

Neferhotep  (priest),  403 

Nefeekhepbube-Intef.  212;  decree  of, 
212 

Neferkhere-Sebekhotep  (the  Great), 
212 

Nefernefruaton,  371,  376 
Nef  retiri  ( Eighteenth  Dynasty  queen) , 
becomes  local  goddess  at  Thebes,  459 
Nef  retiri  (Queen  of  Ramses  II),  446 
Nefrure,  272 
Negadeh,  37 
Isegeb,  315,  410 

Negro,  mercenaries,  134,  137,  330,  424, 

449;  as  Pharaoh,  212 
Nehi,  317 
Nehri,  162 

Nehsi  (Pharaoh),  212 

Nehsi    (chief   treasurer),  272,  277; 

Punt  expedition  dispatched  by,  276; 

fall  of,  283 


INDEX 


621 


Neit,  30,  32,  46,  59 

Xekhbet,  34,  38 

Xekheb  (see  also  El  Kab),  33 

Xekhen  (see  also  El  Kab),  33,  42,  44, 

186;    "Judge    Attached   to,"  81; 

northern  Nubian  frontier  at,  186, 

253-54.  255 
Xekure,  70 
Xemathap,  111 

Xephthys,  66;  parentage  of,  56 

Xesubenebded,  511,  513,  514,  515, 
525;  sends  crocodile  to  Tiglath- 
Pileser  I,  518;  reign  of,  522-23; 
gains  whole  country,  523 

Xesuhor,  588 

Xesuptah,  568 

X'eterimu.  war  against  Delta,  47 
Xew  Towns,  126 

Xew  York  obelisk  of  Thutmose  III 
at,  306 

Xile,  3 ;  course  and  valley  of  the,  4-6 ; 
White,  4;  Blue,  4,  8,  127,  561;  cata- 
racts of,  4,  6;  canon  of,  5;  alluvium 
of,  5,  8;  width  and  velocity,  5; 
delta  of,  5;  mouths  of,  5;  cliffs  of 
canon,  6;  isolation  of  valley,  6; 
gateway  to  Sudan,  7 ;  influence  of 
navigation  of,  7 ;  inundation,  7-8 ; 
of  the  nether  world,  54;  mythical 
sources  of,  56,  374,  375;  nearest 
point  to  Red  Sea,  128;  in  Xubia, 
136;  kingdom  of  the  Blue,  561 

Xilometer,  earliest,  191,  211 

Ximmuria,  333 

Xineveh,  263,  595;  fall  of,  582,  583 
Xitocris,  in  Sixth  Dynasty,  143 
Xitocris,  568 ;  adopted  by  Shepnupet 

(II),    567;    adopts  Enekhnesnefe- 

ribre,  585-86 
Niy,  270,  353;  Thutmose  III  captures, 

304 ;  Amenhotep  II  captures,  324 ; 

taken  by  Aziru,  382,  383 
Xo-Amon,  559 

Xobles,  84-85 ;  Old  Kingdom  tombs  of, 
116;  political  rise  of,  128-29,  131, 
143;  independence  of  Sixth  Dy- 
nasty, 143;  of  the  Empire,  246-47 

Xomarch  (see  also  Great  Lord),  157; 
rise  of,  131-32;  relations  of  Phar- 
aoh with,  134,  161-63;  of  Thinis, 
134;  of  Siut,  148-51,  160;  character 
of  rule  of,  148-49;  159-61,  202; 
curbed  by  Amenemhet  I,  155-56 ;  of 
Orvx-nome,  156.  159,  161,  162,  180, 
181,  182;  in  Middle  Kingdom,  157- 
62;  of  Coptos,  159:  militia  of, 
167;  buildings  of.  159,  197;  of  Hare- 
nome,  133,  134,  159,  162,  163,  201; 
wars  of,  211  ff.,  224,  226,  228;  south 
of  El  Kab,  225 ;  of  El  Kab,  225^26 ; 


surviving  under  the  Empire,  228; 
royal  titles  granted  to,  228 ;  disap- 
pearance of,  22S-29 ;  of  Alabastron- 
polis,  399 

Nome,  31,  79;  early  administration  of, 
80;  militia  of,  84;  independence  of, 
in  Old  Kingdom,  143;  in  Middle 
Kingdom,  157-02;  archives  of,  240 
North,  kingdom  of  the,  see  Delta 
North,  canal  called,  5 
Notre  Dame,  cathedral  of,  450 
Nubia,  tableland  of,  4;  earliest  Egyp- 
tian campaign  in,  37 ;  gold  of,  94 
(see  also  Gold)  ;  control  by  Zoser, 
112;  campaign  of  Snefru  in,  115; 
Userkaf  in,  127;  Sahure  in.  127-28  ; 
Pepi  I  in,  134;  nobles  of  Elephan- 
tine in,  135-39;  character  and  re- 
sources of,  136-39,  537;  tribes  and 
people  of,  136-39;  imports  from, 
136;  first  visit  of  Pharaoh  to,  137; 
Mernere  in,  138-39;  Pepi  II  begins 
conquest  of,  139-42;  relations  of 
Elephantine  nobles  with,  135-42; 
Mentuhotep  II  in,  152;  Middle 
Kingdom  income  from,  163,  183, 
185;  conquest  of,  178,  180-87; 
Amenemhet  I's  campaign  in,  178; 
Sesostris  I's  campaigns  in,  180-81; 
fortresses  in.  183,  184,  Fig.  83,  211; 
Sesostris  Ill's  campaigns  in,  183- 
87;  Neferkere-Sebekhotep  in,  212; 
Ahmose  I  resumes  control  of,  227- 
28;  Amenhotep  I's  campaign  in, 
253-54;  mayor  of  Nekhen  governs 
northern,  253-54,  255;  northern 
frontier  of.  178,  186,  253-54,  255; 
southern  frontier  of,  325-26;  first 
viceroy  of,  255-56;  campaign  of 
Thutmose  I  in,  256-57;  campaign 
of  Thutmose  II  in,  270;  impost  of, 
277,  302,  308,  314,  317,  331,  394, 
473,  530;  Thutmose  III  in,  302.  313. 
317-18;  Thutmose  Ill's  lists  of 
towns  of.  318;  Amenhotep  II  in, 
325-26;  Thutmose  IV  in,  328-29; 
Amenhotep  III  in.  330-31;  last 
great  Pharaonic  invasion  of,  331; 
Egyptianization  of,  330-31,  508, 
537 ;  administration  of.  253-54, 
255-56,  331-32,  394,  446,  507-08; 
vicerov  of,  317,  330,  331,  394,  421, 
422,  456,  473,  520;  viceroy  of,  be- 
comes governor  of  gold  country  of 
Amon.  457 ;  Aton  temple  in,  304, 
393;  Harmhab  in.  407  ;  Ramses  I  in, 
408;  Seti  I  in,  408-09;  Ramses  IPs 
campaign  in.  440;  Ramses  IPs 
temples  in,  446;  gold  country  of 
Amon  in,  457  ;  Meineptah  in,  471; 


622 


INDEX 


source  of  usurpers,  472-73,  499; 
Siptah  in,  473 ;  Ramses  VI  in,  507- 
08;  Twenty  First  Dynasty  in,  525; 
Sheshonk  I  holds,  530,  537;  under 
post-Empire  principality  of  Thebes, 
528;  rise  of  kingdom  of,  537-38; 
character  of  kingdom  of,  538-39, 
561;  Egypt  ruled  by,  539-60;  later 
history  of  kingdom  of,  560-61; 
writing  of,  561;  end  of  kingdom  of, 
561;  Psamtik  II  attempts  recovery 
of,  585 ;  mercenaries  desert  to,  569 ; 
mercenaries  attempt  desertion  to, 
588 

Nubian,  239;  as  Pharaoh,  212,  550-60; 

in  Egyptian  army,  134,  137,  330 
Nubian  Dynasty,  see  Twenty  Fifth 

Dynasty;  see  Nubians 
Nubkhas,  213 

Nuges,  293,  313,  315;  as  ally  of  Hit- 

tites,  424 

Nukhashshi,  352,  353 ;  Hittite  advance 

into,  382,  385 
"  Numberings,"  fiscal,  44 
Nut,  54,  Fig.  31,  56,  59 

0. 

Oases,  6;  192;  earliest  control  of 
northern  (?),  115;  earliest  inter- 
course with  southern,  182;  con- 
trolled by  Thutmose  III,  305 ;  Liby- 
an invasion  of  northern,  467 ;  ban- 
ishment to,  524;  Twenty  Second 
Dynasty  control  of,  530;  under 
Saites,  588,  592 

Obelisks,  of  Re,  124-25;  transport  of, 
266,  280-81;  of  Thutmose  I,  266; 
of  Hatshepsut,  280-82;  of  Thutmose 
III  (Lateran),  306,  329;  of  Amen- 
hotep  II,  327;  of  Thutmose  IV, 
329;  place  of,  343;  of  Amenhotep 
III,  352;  of  Seti  I,  418;  captured 
by  Assyrians,  559 

Obsidian,  105 

Ocean,  56,  261,  319 

(Edipus,  455 

"  Offering,"  the,  226 

Officials,  corruption  of,  200,  403-06, 
523,  527;  taxes  due  from,  238-39; 
demission  of  same,  405;  as  judges, 
240;  Harmhab  reorganizes,  403-06; 
liberality  of  Harmhab  to,  406 

Official  class,  first  records  of,  128-29, 
133-34;  in  Middle  Kingdom,  169; 
in  Empire,  245-46 

Oil,  237 

Okapi,  30 

Okeanos,  56 

Old  Kingdom,  government  and  society, 


74-92;  industry  and  art,  92-110; 
history  of  the,  111-44;  meagre 
sources  for  history  of,  111-12;  be- 
ginning of  Nubian  conquest  by,  112, 
115,  127,  127-28,  134,  135-39,  139- 
42;  wide  foreign  connections  of, 
142;  fall  of,  143;  later  reverence 
for,  144;  destruction  of  monuments 
of,  147;  Saitic  revival  of,  570-76 

Omar,  570 

On  (Heliopolis),  59 

Opet,  feast  of,  294,  309,  393,  400,  541 ; 
length  of,  492,  493 

Orchomenos,  338 

Orontes,  219,  258,  259;  valley  of,  258, 
426-27 

Orthography,  introduction  of  consis- 
tent, 203 

Oryx-nome,  156,  159,  161,  162,  180, 
181,  182;  hereditary  succession  of 
nomarchs  of,  161-62 

Osiris,  46,  59;  reconciler  of  the  Two 
Kingdoms,  47;  parentage  of,  56; 
temple  of,  196,  265;  as  King  of  the 
Dead,  58;  myth  of,  58,  59,  60,  171- 
72,  174;  ethical  elements  in  myth 
of,  67,  173,  250;  popularity  of,  59- 
60;  home  of,  60;  outward  form  of, 
60;  rise  as  supreme  mortuary  god, 
66-67;  mortuary  customs  from 
myth  of,  69 ;  popular  triumph  of, 
171;  drama  of  myth  of,  171-72, 
207;  tomb  of  at  Abydos,  172;  me- 
morial tablets  to,  172,  182,  185-86, 
187;  image  of,  185-86;  suppressed 
by  Ikhnaton,  390;  Seti  I's  Abydos 
temple  of,  415;  in  Saite  period,  575 

Osorkon  I,  531-32 

Osorkon  II,  532-33;  jubilee  hall  of, 
532 

Osorkon  III,  536,  539-40,  553;  sub- 
mits to  Piankhi,  543;  art  under, 
548-49 

Osorkon  (High  Priest  of  Amon),  an- 
nals of,  533-34 
Ostrich,  136 
Othu,  411 
Ox,  wild,  30,  91 

P. 

Painting,  in  Old  Kingdom,  105-06; 
in  Middle  Kingdom,  202;  in  Em- 
pire, 308,  348,  378,  417 

Pakhons,  285 

Pakht,  280 

Pakruru,  557 

Palace,  39,  78;  its  double  character, 
78;  construction  of,  88;  of  Amen- 
hotep III,  348-49 


IXDEX 


623 


Paleolithic  man,  25 
Palermo  Stone,  45  (Fig.  28) 
Palestine  (see  also  Syria-Palestine), 
26;  earliest  expedition  into,  135; 
pre-Israelitish  civilization  of,  188; 
pursuit  of  Hyksos  into,  215;  pov- 
erty of,  258;  first  tributary  to 
Egypt,  264;  campaign  of  Thutmose 
11  in,  270 ;  involved  in  revolt  against 
Thutmose  III,  284;  Beduin  of,  315; 
absorbed  by  Khabiri,  387-89;  in- 
habitants flee  to  Egypt  before 
Khabiri,  388;  road  from  Egypt  to, 
409;  at  beginning  of  Nineteenth 
Dynasty,  409;  Hebrew  settlement 
of,  409-10;  recovered  by  Seti  I, 
411;  revolts  against  Ramses  II, 
435-36;  recovered  by  Ramses  II, 
436;  Egyptian  garrisons  in,  322, 
387-88,  447;  Egyptian  trade  with, 
447-48;  dialects  of,  in  Egypt,  448- 
49;  revolts  against  Merneptah, 
465;  wasted  by  Merneptah,  466, 
470;  final  loss  of,  512-19;  survival 
of  fiction  of  Pharaoh's  sovereignty 
over,  518-19,  526;  Twenty  Second 
Dynasty  (Sheshonk  I)  attempts  re- 
.  covery  of,  529-30,  531;  tribute  of, 
530;  list  of  towns  of,  531;  absorbed 
by  Assyria,  549;  Psamtik  I  at- 
tempts recovery  of,  580;  Xecho'a 
conquest  of,  582-83;  Babylonian 
conquest  of,  583-84;  Apries'  war 
in,  586-87;  Amasis'  designs  on, 
592-93 

Palettes,  slate,  40,  47  (Fig.  19) 
Panther,   136,  276,  277;   five  cubits 

long,  280 
Paper,  see  Papyrus 

Papyrus,  85 ;  uses  of,  97 ;  paper  in- 
troduced into  Syria,  484,  517 
Paris,  obelisk  of  Ramses  II  at,  445 
Patonemhab,  403 

Paynozem  I,  523-24;  marries  daugh- 
ter of  Pesibkhenno  I,  524 
Payonekh,  523 
Pazedku,  226 
Pe,  34,  42,  44 
Pebekkamen,  498-500 
Pedes,  424 

Pediamenemopet,  tomb  of,  568 
Pedibast,  535-36 
Pediese,  544 
Pedihor,  568 
Pefnefdibast,  542 

Peleset,  477,  479;  settlement  in  Pal- 
estine, 512 
Pelusium,  595 
Pemou,  535 

Pemou  (mercenary  commander),  535 


Penno,  507-08 
Pentaur,  poem  of,  434,  453 
Pentewere,  poem  of,  434,  453 
Pentewere  (son  of  Ramses  III),  498- 
500 

Pepi  I,  35;  reign  of,  133-35 

Pepi  II,  parentage  of,  134,  139;  reign 

of,  139-43 
Pepinakht,  141,  142 
Perehu,  276 
Periander,  580 
Perire,  468 
Per-Ramses,  442-43 
Perrot,  106 

Persepet,  see  Saft  el-Henneh 

Persian  Empire,  rise  of,  593 

Persian  Gulf,  259 

Personality,  63-64 

Pesibkhenno  I,  523-24 

Pesibkhenno  II,  525 ;  daughter  mar- 
ries  son  of  Sheshonk  I,  528 

Petition,  240-41 

Peyes,  498-500 

Phagroriopolis,  544 

Pharaoh,  origin  of  title,  74;  symbols 
of,  38.  39,  40  and  n.  2;  titles  of, 
38,  74,  124;  »egalia  of,  38,  39; 
public  appearances,  38-39 ;  cos- 
tume of,  38-39,  340;  toilet  of,  75; 
diversions  of,  39,  122,  204;  estate 
of,  39;  as  high  priest,  62,  456; 
mortuary  service  of,  71,  265;  rev- 
erence for,  74;  court  of,  74-75; 
women  of,  75  ;  relations  with  nobles, 
76-77,  166-67;  limitation  of  power 
of,  77 ;  education  and  character  of, 
77,  457-58;  duties  of,  77-78,  235- 
36;  residence  of,  78;  judicial  pre- 
rogatives of,  81,  499-500;  legal  ap- 
peal to,  81-82;  as  owner  of  all 
lands,  84,  574;  as  son  of  Re,  122- 
23,  272-73,  400-01,  543;  decline 
of  his  power  in  Old  Kingdom,  129, 
131-32;  letters  of,  77,  140,  141, 
166,  185,  520;  benefits  of  office  of, 
143-44;  first  accompanying  cam- 
paign in  foreign  country,  181; 
hymn  to,  206-07;  body  guard  of, 
235,  243,  Fig.  163;  power  of,  235; 
offices  of,  79-80,  236,  243;  lease 
of  property  of,  237 ;  subject  to  law, 
242;  source  of  law,  242,  404-06; 
tomb  of  (see  also  Pyramid),  250- 
52;  theological  aspects  of,  358-59, 
456;  sacerdotalization  of,  457,  506- 
07;  justice  of,  134,  499-500 

Phaselis,  590 

Philistia,   Psamtik   I   invades,  580; 

Xecho  invades,  582 
Philistines,  477,  Fig.  172,  479;  set- 


624 


INDEX 


tlement  in  Palestine,  512;  suppres- 
sion by  Israel,  526 

Philosophy,  204,  356-61;  myths  in- 
terpreted as,  356;  origin  of  Greek, 
358,  580;  Greek,  361 

Phocaea,  590 

Phoenicia,  215;  commerce  with  under 
Snefru,  115;  Thutmose  III  in,  298, 
302;  temple  of  Amon  in,  298;  har- 
bours of,  employed  and  equipped 
by  Pharaoh,  302,  304,  313,  315, 
317,  424;  galleys  of,  in  Egypt,  307; 
papyrus  and  Egyptian  alphabet  in- 
troduced into,  484 

Phoenicians,  217,  219;  rise  of,  260- 
61;  disseminators  of  oriental  civi- 
lization, 262 

Physician,  of  court,  75,  101 

Piankhi,  reign  of,  539-46;  conquers 
Upper  Egypt,  539-42 ;  captures 
Memphis,  542-43;  is  recognized  as 
Pharaoh  by  Re,  543;  conquers  the 
Delta,  543-45;  stela  of,  545 

Pillar,  107 

Pipes,  double,  349 

Pir'u  (Pharaoh),  550 

Pithom,  442,  Fig.  162;  Beduin  dwell- 
ing by,  447 

Poetrv,  earliest,  109;  in  Middle  King- 
dom, 205-07;  in  Empire,  318-19, 
371-76,  434,  453,  455,  458 

Police,  marine,  338 

Polycrates,  591 

Population,  9 

Porphyry,  28 

Pottery,  earliest,  28 ;  protodynastic, 
39;  Old  Kingdom,  95-96;  ^Egean, 
189 

Prayer,  458-59,  506;  mortuary,  in 
king's  name,  71;  of  Ramses  IV, 
458,  506 

Priests,  in  first  two  dynasties,  46; 
in  State,  62,  63;  in  Old  Kingdom, 
62-63;  mortuary,  70,  134;  in  Mid- 
dle Kingdom,  171;  laymen  as,  171; 
sale  of  rolls  for  gain  by,  175,  176, 
249-50;  as  judges,  241;  in  Em- 
pire, 241,  247,  249-50,  272,  362, 
401-03,  475,  489-90;  rise  of  polit- 
ical power  of,  241,  247,  272;  uni- 
versal organization  of,  247,  272, 
362;  as  social  class,  247;  reorgani- 
zation by  Harmhab,  401-03;  con- 
ciliated by  Setnakht,  475;  by 
Ramses  III,  489-96;  become  a  po- 
litical and  economic  menace,  489- 
96,  497,  506-07;  triumph  of,  520- 
23  ;  rule  of,  520-28 ;  in  Saite  period, 
574-76;  exempt  from  taxation, 
574;  become  an  hereditary  class, 


575;   Amasis  appropriates  wealth 

of,  592 
Priestesses,  63 

Princes,  royal,  in  Old  Kingdom,  75, 
126;  revenues  of  royal,  75;  in  gov- 
ernment office,  119;  in  the  army, 
234,  461;  feuds  between,  418;  as 
high  priest  of  Ptah,  461 

Prophecy,  547;  literature  of,  204-05; 
messianic,  204-05;  origin  of  mes- 
sianic, 205;  ecstatic,  513-14 

Prostitution,  86 

Proverbs,  107-08 

Psammetichos,  580 

Psamtik  I,  flees  to  Syria,  558;  rein- 
stated by  Ashurbanipal,  565;  rise 
of,  565-67;  organization  of,  567- 
70;  foreign  policy  of,  576-77; 
Asiatic  war  of,  580;  repels  Scyth- 
ians, 580-81;  death  of,  581 

Psamtik  II,  561,  585-86;  attempts 
recovery  of  Nubia,  585 

Psamtik  III,  595 

Ptah,  46,  60,  196,  439;  high  priest 
of,  63,  126;  Karnak  temple  of,  295; 
philosophical  interpretation  of,  356- 
58 ;  splendour  of  Ramses  Ill's  gifts 
to,  490;  relations  of  Twenty  Second 
Dynasty  with  high  priests  of,  528- 
29,  in  Saite  period,  575 

Ptah-hotep,  five  viziers,  126;  Instruc- 
tion of,  83,  107,  204 

Ptolemy  I,  14 

Ptolemies,  183,  593,  595 

Puemre,  306 

Punt,  earliest  voyage  to,  127,  140; 
Sahure  in,  127;  Isesi  in,  127,  140; 
route  to,  128,  142;  imports  from, 
136;  Pepi  II  in,  142;  relations  of 
Elephantine  nobles  with,  142;  de- 
velopment of  intercourse  with,  142; 
Mentuhotep  III  in,  153;  traffic,  a 
royal  prerogative,  163;  Middle 
Kingdom  expeditions  to,  153,  182- 
83;  in  popular  tale,  183,  203;  in 
Der  el-Bahri  temple,  274,  277 ;  Hat- 
shepsut's  expedition  to,  274-78; 
Thutmose  Ill's  expedition  to,  305; 
Ramses  Ill's  expedition  to,  485-86 

Puntites,  276;  affinity  with  Egypt- 
ians, 26;  in  Egypt,  127,  277 

Put,  559 

Putukhipa,  437 

Pylon,  343,  Fig.  126 

Pyramid,  temple  of,  71-73;  causeway 
leading  to,  72,  Fig.  35;  enclosure, 
71-73;  location  of,  78;  origin  of, 
114,  115,  116;  of  Snefru,  115-1-6; 
of  Khufu,  see  Pvramid,  Great;  of 
Khafre,  120;  of  "Menkure,  121;  of 


INDEX 


625 


Shepseskaf,  121;  decline  of  Fifth 
Dynasty,  129;  of  Meniere,  135;  in 
Eleventh  Dynasty,  155;  in  Middle 
Kingdom,  176,  198-200;  of  Hawara, 
198-200;  discontinuance  of.  200, 
250,  278;  of  Thirteenth  Dynasty, 
212,  213;  of  Seventeenth  Dynasty, 
224 

Pyramid,  Great,  101,  117-19;  signifi- 
cance of,  119 

Pyramid  texts,  67,  69,  109,  175; 
earliest,  130;  Saite  revival  of,  171 

Pyramidion,  197 

Q. 

Qarqar,  battle  of,  534 

Queen,  position  of,  75;  prominence  at 
close  of  Eighteenth  Dynasty,  329- 
30,  367;  conspiracy  of,  134,  241, 
242,  498-500 

R. 

Radedef,  120 

Rain  (see  also  Climate).  153 
Ramesseum,  443,  451;  colossus  of,  445 
Ramose,  362 

Ramessids,  212,  224;  of  the  Twentieth 
Dynasty  (after  Ramses  III),  505- 
21;  tombs  of,  507;  chronology  of 
late,  508 ;  disorganization  under 
late,  510-11;  decline  of,  518 

Ramses  I,  reign  of,  408-09 ;  body  con- 
cealed in  tomb  of  Inhapi,  525;  final 
concealment  of  body  at  Der  el- 
Bahri,  525 

Ramses  II,  not  Sesostris,  189;  van- 
dalism of,  195,  443-45;  displaces 
elder  brother,  418-19,  Fig.  419;  ac- 
cession of,  418-20;  completes  Seti 
I's  Abydos  temple,  420-21;  exploits 
Nubian  gold  country.  421-22;  Hit- 
tite  war  of,  423-41 ;  route  of 
march  against,  425-26 ;  founds  city 
in  Lebanon,  425;  at  battle  of 
Kadesh,  427-35,  452;  Palestine 
war,  435-36;  partially  recovers 
Syria,  436-37 ;  concludes  treaty  of 
peace  with  the  Hittites,  437-39; 
marries  Hittite  princesses,  439-40: 
Nubian  campaigns,  440 ;  Libyan 
campaign,  440-41 ;  buildings  of, 
442-46;  obelisks  of,  445;  jubilees 
of,  414,  461;  prodigality  in  endow- 
ing temples,  446;  the  oppressor  of 
Hebrew  tradition,  446-47  ;  daughter 
marries  a  Syrian.  449 ;  character 
and  personality  of.  460-61 ;  family 
of,  461;  splendour  of,  450,  461-62; 
senility  of,  462;  western  Delta  lost 


by,  462;  death  of,  462;  influence  of 
memory  of,  462-63 ;  robbery  of 
tomb  of,  510;  restoration  of  body 
of,  519;  body  concealed  in  tomb  of 
Inhapi,  525;  final  concealment  of 
body  at  Der  el-Bahri,  525 

Ramses  III.  accession  of,  476-77; 
reign  of,  477-501;  first  Libyan  war, 
477-78 :  war  with  northern  sea  peo- 
ples, 480-81;  second  Libyan  war, 
481-S3;  Syrian  war,  483";  storms 
Hittite  cities,  483  :  Asiatic  boundary 
of,  483  ;  peace  under.  484-86;  build- 
ings of,  486-88;  Medinet  Habu  an- 
nals of,  486-87,  4S8-89:  imitative 
character  of  reign  of,  488-89;  con- 
ciliation of  priesthood  by,  489-96; 
not  solely  responsible  for  temple 
wealtb.  495-96:  embarrassment  of 
treasury  of,  496 ;  revolt  of  vizier, 
497-9S  ;  jubilee  of,  498  ;  conspiracy 
against,  498-500;  death  of,  501 

Ramses  IV,  reign  of,  505-07 ;  prayer 
of.  458.  506 ;  builds  Khonsu-temple, 
507 ;  exploitation  of  Sinai  ceases 
after,  507 

Ramses  V,  507 

Ramses  VI.  507-08 

Ramses  VII,  507 

Ramses  VIII,  507 

Ramses  IX.  508-11,  512 

Ramses  X.  510-11 

Ramses  XI,  511 

Ramses  XII,  reign  of,  511-521 

Ramses,  the  land  of,  443 

Ramsesnakht,  508 

Ranofer,  103 

Re,  46,  59,  76,  133;  as  king,  56;  high 
priest  of,  63 ;  dead  accompanying, 
64,  174;  king  pravs  to,  76;  polit- 
ical rise  of,  120.  121-26:  as  king 
and  father  of  Pharaoh,  122-24,  126, 
272-73.    400-01  ;    in    roval  name, 

123-  24:  Fifth  Dynasty  temples  of, 

124-  26:  Middle  Kingdom  temple  of, 
196-97;  Temple  barques  of,  125; 
political  triumph  of,  170;  Hyksos 
disregard  of,  215;  claims  to  be  uni- 
versal god,  359 :  origin  of  Aton 
theology  in.  360,  366,  371 ;  of  Ernen, 
437  ;  splendour  of  Ramses  Ill's  gifts 
to,  490 

Rebu.  466 

Red,  as  color  of  Delta  kingdom,  32 
Redesiveh,  416 
Red  House.  32,  42 

Red  Sea,  3,  6;  harbours  of,  6.  183, 
486;  routes  to,  6,  128,  142,  153,  164, 
182-83,  486;  connection  with  Nile, 
142,  276,  277,  411,  485-86,  584 


40 


626 


INDEX 


Re-Harakhte,  see  Re 

Rehob,  530 

Rehoboam,  529 

Rekhmire,'  238,  239,  307,  320 

Relief,  see  Sculpture 

Religion,  earliest,  35;  literature  of 
earliest,  44,  45 ;  of  first  two  dy- 
nasties, 45;  early,  53-73;  symbols 
of,  60;  local  differences  in,  61; 
spread  of  local  beliefs,  resulting  in- 
consistency, 61;  political,  accom- 
panying religious  supremacy,  61; 
state,  121-26,  129;  literature  of, 
129-30;  of  Middle  Kingdom,  170- 
76;  of  Empire,  247-52,  355-78,  401- 
03,  455-60,  505-06;  restoration  of 
the  gods  by  Harmhab,  401-03;  per- 
sonal, 458-59;  of  the  masses,  459- 
60;  Asiatic  influences  in,  460;  of 
Saite  period,  570-72,  574-76;  of 
Egypt  influences  Europe,  580 

"  Repulse  of  the  Troglodytes,"  186 

Reshep,  460 

Restoration,  history  of,  565-95;  or- 
ganization of  the  State  in,  567-70, 
573-74;  society  in,  574;  religion 
in,  570-72,  574-76;  art  in,  571, 
572-73,  579-80;  industries  in,  573; 
retrospective  character  of,  570-76; 
writing  in,  570;  exclusiveness  of, 
570,  579;  intimate  intercourse  with 
Greece  in,  578;  artificial  character 
of,  595 

Retenu,  Middle   Kingdom  campaign 

in,  187;  in  Empire,  289,  294,  319 
Reviling,  173 

Rhodes,  260,  590;  Egyptian  com- 
merce with,  337 

Rib-Addi,  352,  353,  383,  385,  386,  387, 
393 

Ribleh,  427;  Necho  at,  583;  Nebu- 
chadrezzar's base  at,  587 

Ritual  ( see  also  Cultus ) ,  248 

Rome,  obelisk  of  Thutmose  III  at, 
306;  obelisks  of  Ramses  II  at,  445 

Rosetta,  mouth,  5 

Royenet,  225 

Rudder,  introduction  of,  142 
"Ruler  of    Countries"    (or  "Hill- 
Countries"),  217,  218 
"  Ruhr  of  the  Hill-Country,"  188 

S. 

Sacrifice,  human,  325,  411,  478 
Saft  el-Henneh,  543,  547 
Sag,  91 
Sahara,  4,  5,  6 

Sahtjbe,  birth  of,  123;  reign  of,  127; 
expedition  to  Punt,  127,  128 


Sais,  30,  31-32,  44,  59;  political  rise 
of,  540-46,  556,  565,  splendour  of 
in  Twenty  Sixth  Dynasty,  573-74; 
religious  importance  in  restoration, 
575;  buildings  of  Amasis  in,  591 

Saite  Nome,  216 

Saite  Period,  see  Restoration 

Sakere,  as  coregent,  391 ;  as  king,  392 

Sakkara,  pyramids  of,  129 

Saladin,  309 

Salatis,  216 

Samal,  556 

Samaria,  Assyrians  take,  549 
Samos,  591 

Sandals,  27,  97,  188,  340 

Sandstone,  4:  quarries,  93,  361 

"  Sand-dwellers,"  178,  319 

Sarbut  el-Khadem,  equipped  by  Ame- 
nemhet  III,  190-91,  208 

Sarcophagus,  135 

Sardinians,  see  Sherden 

Sargon  II  takes  Samaria,  549;  de- 
feats western  coalition  at  Raphia, 
550 

"  Satisfaction  of  Re,"  124 

Scarabaeus  (or  scarab),  mortuary 
heart,  249 ;  of  marriage  with  Tiy, 
329-30;  of  marriage  with  Gilu- 
khipa,  333 ;  of  opening  of  sacred 
lake,  349-50;  of  wild  cattle  hunt, 
350;  of  lion  hunting,  350-51 

Schoinoi,  491 

Schools,  in  Old  Kingdom,  98-100 

Scorpion,  36 

Scribe,  98-100,  169 

Sculpture,  earliest,  28;  early  dynas- 
tic, 40;  in  tomb,  69-70;  in  the  Old 
Kingdom,  102-05,  129;  methods  of, 
103;  character  of  Old  Kingdom, 
106;  in  Middle  Kingdom,  201-02; 
tradition  in,  201-02;  gods  deter- 
mine canons  of,  201-02;  in  Empire, 
346-48,  378,  417,  450-53,  488;  de- 
cline in,  488;  in  Libyan-Nubian 
period,  548-49 ;  in  Saite  period, 
571,  572-73  ;  relief  sculpture,  in  Old 
Kingdom,  105,  125;  in  Middle  King- 
dom, 202;  in  Empire,  273,  343, 
346-47,  414-15,  417,  433-34,  451- 
53,  488;  of  temple,  343,  414-15, 
417,  451-53,  488;  battle  of  Kadesh 
series,  433-34,  451-53;  decline  in, 
488;  in  Saite  period,  571,  572 

Scythians,  580,  582 

Sea,  of  the  sky,  54 ;  peop:.  s  of  the, 
477,  526;  earliest  known  battle  on, 
480-81 

Sebekemsaf,    robbery   of   tomb  of, 

213,  510 
Sebekhotep,  212,  221 


INDEX 


627 


Sebek-khu,  187 

Sebennvtos,  543 

Sebk-nefru-Re,  195,  208 

Sebni,  Nubian  expedition  of,  140-41 

Sed,  feast  of,  see  Jubilee  Royal 

Sedeinga,  351 

Sehel.  257 

Sehetepibre,  167 

Seir,  387,  484 

Seka,  36 

Sekexexre.  ruler  of  Thebes,  215,  221, 
223-24:  three  kings  named,  224, 
225;  murnmv  of,  224,  Fig.  100;  tale 
of,  215-16,  223-24,  453-54 

Sekexexre  III,  225 

Sekmem,  187 

Sekhemre-Khutowe,  reign  of,  211 

Semerkhet,  Sinai  tablet  of,  43  (Fig. 
29)  ;  Sinai  campaign  of,  48 

Semites,  188 ;  immigration  into  Egypt, 
7,  25-26:  trading  in  Egypt,  187; 
invading  Egypt,  7,  25-26^  214-19; 
immigration  into  Syria,  219,  259, 
260  ;  captive  in  Egypt,  339.  448  ;  flee 
to  Egypt  before  Khabiri,  388 ;  gain 
official  power  in  Egvpt.  449.  474 

Semneh,  317;  stelae,  184,  186;  fortress 
of,,  184,  Fig.  83;  records  of  Nile- 
levels  at,  191 

Senmen,  272,  fall  of,  283 

Senmut,  272,  277,  282.  as  architect 
at  Der  el-Bahri.  274 ;  in  reliefs  at 
Der  el-Bahri,  277.  278;  fall  of,  283 

Sennacherib,  551-55;  destruction  of 
army  of,  552 

Senzar,  302.  353 

Seplel,  412.  437:  congratulates  Ikh- 

naton  at  accession,  381 
Serapeum,  557,  575 
Serdab,  70 

Serfs,  in  Old  Kingdom.  84,  85;  life 
of,  86;  in  Middle  Kingdom,  169, 
170;  in  Empire,  246,  247.  491;  held 
by  the  temples,  491,  493-94;  slow 
payment  of  royal,  496 ;  in  Saite 
period,  574 

Serpent,  as  goddess,  see  Uraeus ;  as 
foe  of  the  dead,  175 

Sesostris  I,  17,  166,  as  coregent, 
178;  dispatched  against  Nubia, 
178;  dispatched  against  Libyans, 
179;  reign  of,  179-82;  Nubian 
wars  of,  181;  obelisk  of,'  194; 
buildings  of,  196,  508;  pyramid  of, 
198 

Sesostris  II,  reign  of.  182-83;  town 
of,  87,  194,  198;  pyramid  of,  198, 
200-01,  445;  Ramses  II  plunders 
pyramid  of,  445 

Sesostris  III,  reign  of,  183-90,;  cam- 


paigns in  Nubia,  183-87 ;  as  god  of 
Nubia,  186.  269,  317;  invasion  of 
Syria  by,  187;  buildings  of,  196- 
97;  pyramid  of,  198;  portrait- 
statues  of,  201,  202;  hymn  to, 
206-07 

"  Sesostris  is  Contented,"  194 

Sesostris  of  Greek  tradition,  189 

Set,  38,  46;  parentage  of,  56;  in 
Pharaonic  title,  38,  124;  Sutekh 
original  form  of  name  of,  222,460; 
banished  in  Saite  times,  571 

Sethroite,  Nome,  216 

Sethu,  137;  location  of,  137;  expedi- 
tion to,  139 

Sett  I,  reign  of,  408-18  :  Asiatic  wars 
of.  409-14;  received  at  Tharu,  411; 
Libvan  war  of.  412:  treatv  with 
Hittites,  412,  423;  Hittite  war  of, 
412-13;  Asiatic  policy  of,  413; 
peaceful  enterprises  of,  414-18; 
restores  monuments  of  Anion,  414; 
buildings  of,  414-15;  exploitation 
of  gold  mines,  416;  tomb  of,  417- 
18,  Fig.  109;  obelisks  of,  418; 
jubilee  of,  418;  succession  after. 
418;  body  of,  418,  Fig.  158,  519; 
robbery  of  tomb  of,  510;  body  con- 
cealed in  tomb  of  Inhapi,  525; 
final  concealment  of  body  at  Der 
el-Bahri,  525 

Seti  II,  473 

Setnakht,  474-75 

Sewa,  549 

Sexual  impurity,  17o 

Shabaka,    reign    of,    550-53,  554; 

forms    coalition    against  Assyria. 

550-51 ;    possible    treaty  between 

A~>vria    and,    553;    building  at 

Thebes,  553 
Shabataka,  553-54 
Shabtuna,  427 
Shaduf,  8 

Shalmaneser  II.  534 
Shalmaneser  IV,  549 
Sharon,  286 

Sharuhen,  530;  siege  of,  227;  faith- 
fulness of,  284 
Sharuludari,  557 
Shasu,  410 

Shekelesh,    467,    479;    as    allies  of 

Libyans,  467,  477 
Shekh-Sa'id,  132 
Shemesh-Edom,  324 
Shemre,  47 
Sheol,  173 
Shephelah,  286 
Shepherd  Kings,  217 
Shepnupet   (I,  daughter  of  Osorkon 

III),  546 


628 


INDEX 


Shepnupet  (II,  sister  of  Taharka), 
adopted  by  Amenardis,  558;  adopts 
Nitocris,  567 

Shepseskaf,  121,  123 

Sherden,  440,  462,  480;  as  merce- 
naries, 336,  386,  448,  Fig.  163, 
477,  480,  485;  as  allies  of  Libyans, 
467,  477 

Sheshonk  I,  usurpation  of,  527-28 ; 
organization  by,  528;  campaign  in 
Palestine,  529-30;  records  tribute 
of  Palestine  and  Nubia,  530;  build- 
ings of,  530;  jubilee  of,  531 

Sheshonk  II,  533 

Sheshonk  III,  535 

Sheshonk  IV,  535 

Sheshonk  ("  Great  Chief  of  the  Mesh- 

wesh  " ) ,  527 
Sheshonk  (High  Priest  of  Amon,  son 

of  Osorkon  I),  532 
Shet,  181 

"  Shining  in  Memphis,"  226 

Ships  (see  also  Boats),  421,  490, 
517;  earliest  sea-going,  115,  127; 
war,  135,  150,  151,  226,  298,  308, 
479,  480.  540,  582;  building  of,  136, 
142,  153,  160;  improvement  of, 
142;  Keftyew,  261;  of  Hatshepsut, 
276-77;  to  Syria,  448;  enlargement 
of,  486,  490 

Shiri,  387 

Shos,  see  Shasu 

Shmun,  59  (see  Eshmunen) 

Shrine,  portable,  62 

Shu,  55;  birth  of,  56 

Shunem,  530 

Shuttarna,  333 

Siamon,  525 

Sib'i,  550 

Sibylline  literature,  204-05 
Sicily,  467,  477 

Sidon,  260;  stela  of  Necho  at,  583; 
in  Saite  period,  583,  586;  monu- 
ments of  Necho  at,  587 

Siege,  of  Sharuhen,  227 ;  of  Avaris, 
226-27;  of  Megiddo,  290-91;  meth- 
ods of,  290-91,  541 

Sihathor  (Pharaoh),  212 

Sihathor,  201 

Sikeli,  467,  477 

Silsileh,  quarries  at,  93,  361,  531 
Silver,  292,  293,  302,  304,  490,  491, 
494,  515,  559;  earliest  use  of,  28; 
source  of,  94 ;  relative  value  of  gold 
and,  98,  185,  338;  due  from  officials, 
238 ;  in  commercial  rings.  304,  307 ; 
Osorkon  I  gives  vast  weight  of, 
531-32 
Silver-house,  double,  164 


Simyra,  260,  302,  411;  during  Hittite 

invasion,  382,  383,  385,  386 
Sin,  sense  of,  65,  67,  173-74,  175,  458 
Sinai,  6;  first  Egyptian  expedition  in, 
48;   copper  mines  in,  93;  Zoser's 
expedition  to,  112;  Snefru  in,  114— 
15;    Khufu   in,    119;    Sahure  in, 
127;   Pepi   I  in,   133-34,  135-36; 
protection  of,  136;  gap  in  records 
during  Seventh  and  Eighth  Dynas- 
ties at,  147 ;  Middle  Kingdom  reve- 
nue from,  163,  164,   182,  190-91; 
Amenemhet   III    in,   190-91,  208; 
hardships   of   mining  in,  190-91; 
water-route    to,     190;  Egyptians 
buried    in,    191;    desert   of,  258; 
Ramses  III,  485 ;  close  of  Pharaonic 
exploitation  of,  507 
Sindebad,  the  Sailor,  203 
Sinuhe,  flight  of,  179-80,  188;  story 

of,  203 
Sirius,  33,  244 

Siut,  5,  168,  237;  nomarchs  of,  148- 
51,  160;  tomb-inscriptions  of,  151; 
boundary  between  jurisdiction  of 
two  viziers,  236 

Skemiophris,  208 

Sky,  as  a  cow,  54;  as  a  sea,  54;  as 

a  woman,  54;  goddess  of,  59 
Slander,  173 

Slaves  (see  also  Serfs),  foreign,  308- 
09,  339,  496-97;  rise  to  official 
power  of  royal,  496-97 

Smendes,  511 

Snefru,  reign  of,  114-16 

So,  549 

Sobk,   170;  temple  of,  194;  rise  of 

in  Twelfth  Dynasty,  195 
Sobk-Re,  170 

Society,  in  first  two  dynasties,  44; 
in  Old  Kingdom,  84-87;  in  Middle 
Kingdom,  168-70;  in  the  Empire, 
245 

Socoh,  530 

Sokar,  46 

Soldier,  professional,  233-34;  earliest, 
167;  as  a  class,  246-47;  rise  of  the, 
246-47;  lawlessness  of,  404;  tri- 
umph of  the,  527-28;  exempt  from 
taxation  in  Saite  time,  574 

Soleb,  318,  347,  393 

Solomon,  529 

Solon,  591 

Somali,  25,  26 

Son,  eldest,  builds  father's  tomb,  76 
Song,  folk-,  92   (legend  of  Fig.  39), 

109,  205-06,  455;   of  the  harper, 

205-06;  love-,  455 
Soped,  115 
Sophocles,  455 


IXDEX 


629 


"  Sos,"  217 
Soul,  64,  204 

Sources,  character  and  extent  of  docu- 
mentary, 23-24 
South,  Kingdom  of  the,  see  Upper 

Egypt 

Southern  city,  215.  216,  223,  224 
Southern  Ten,  79-80;  Southern  Tens, 

165,  239-40 
Spanish,  colonies  of  Phoenicia,  261 
Spartans,  591,  593 

Sphinx,  origin  of  great,  120;  stela, 
120,  327;  Thutmose  IV  clears 
great,  327 

Spinner,  96 

Spirits,  local,  53 

Stars,  as  dead,  64 

Stat,  228 

State,  earliest,  30,  31;  fusion  of 
earliest  states,  31;  in  First  and 
Second  Dynasties,  42-45;  in  the 
Old  Kingdom,  74-84,  126-27;  two- 
fold character  of,  78-79,  82;  weak- 
ness of  in  Old  Kingdom,  83-84; 
in  Middle  Kingdom,  157-68;  in 
Empire,  233-45;  centralization  of, 
in  Empire.  243 ;  sacerdotallizing  of, 
456-57,  506-07;  in  Saite  period, 
567-70,  573-74 

"  Station  of  the  King,"  268,  345,  348 

Statue  (see  also  Sculpture,  mortu- 
ary), 70,  102,  176;  of  Khafre,  103; 
of  Hemset,  103;  of  Ranofer,  103;  of 
Shekh  el-Beled.  104;  of  Louvre 
scribe,  104;  life-size,  in  copper, 
104;  of  Pepi  I,  in  copper,  104; 
seven  of  Khafre,  120;  of  Mentu- 
hotep  III,  153;  colossal,  159,  194, 
201-02,  343,  344,  345,  346,  348, 
Fig.  131,  442,  445,  450;  of  honour 
to  noblemen,  176;  of  Sesostris  III 
on  southern  frontier,  186;  of  Ame- 

.  nemhet  III  in  Fayum,  194,  201;  in 
Middle  Kingdom,"  201-02;  Syrian, 
292;  in  temple  of  Karnak,  297;  in 
Empire,  346,  450;  of  Ramses  II  in 
Turin,  450,  Fig.  168;  of  gold,  490; 
endowment  of  royal,  508 

Stealing,  173 

Stone,  working  of  hard,  93 ;  vessels 
of,  95 ;  beginning  of  building  in, 
113;  transportation  of,  117,  i59, 
266,  281,  282;  heavy  blocks  of, 
118,  199-200,  281-82,  343,  450,  451, 
591 

Strabo,  193 

Strategy,    military,   297-98,  410-11, 

423 ;  at  battle  of  Kadesh,  426-34 
Strophe,  earliest  example  of,  206 


Suan  (Egvptian  for  Assuan,  q.  v.), 
7,  1S8;  on  east  of  Delta,  188 

Sudan,  7;  route  to,  185;  trade  with, 
185 

Suez,  Isthmus  of,  115,  fortifications 

on,  447 
Suez,  Gulf  of,  190 

Sun-god,  daily  birth  of,  54;  celestial 
barque  of,  54,  55,  Fig.  32,  59,  125; 
origin  of,  56;  supremacy  of,  58- 
59;  voyage  of,  59,  64,  250;  dead 
transported  by,  65;  dominance  in 
empire,  248;  recognition  of  newly- 
crowned  Pharaoh  by,  268,  543;  be- 
comes god  of  the  Empire,  360-61 

Survev,  preliminarv,  13-21 

Sutekh.  437,  460;  god  of  Hyksos,  216, 
222;  temple  of,  216;  lord  of  Avaris, 
217;  Ramses  Ill's  temple  of,  487 

Syria  (see  also  Syria-Palestine),  first 
invasion  of,  187;  Sesostris  Ill's 
campaign  in,  187;  Middle  Kingdom 
intercourse  with,  187-88;  pursuit 
of  Hyksos  into,  215;  campaign  of 
Amenhotep  I  in,  254,  257 :  cam- 
paign of  Thutmose  I  in,  257-65 ; 
campaigns  of  Thutmose  III  in,  see 
Thutmose  III;  campaign  of  Amen- 
hotep II  in,  323-25;  campaign  of 
Thutmose  IV  in,  327-28;  first  in- 
vaded by  Hittites,  352-53;  At  on 
temple  In,  364;  Hittite  absorption 
of,  379-87 ;  loss  of,  bv  lkhnaton, 
388;  water-route  to,  302,  304,  313, 
315,  317,  411;  campaign  of  Seti 
I  in,  409-14;  temporarily  recov- 
ered, by  Ramses  II,  436 ;  campaign 
of  Merneptah  in,  465-66;  cam- 
paigns of  Ramses  III  in,  480-81, 
4S3;  Egyptian  trade  with  447-48, 
gods  of,  in  Egypt,  460;  invaded 
by  "  peoples  of  the  sea "  and 
northerners.  477-78,  479,  481; 
temple  of  Anion  in,  298,  484;  papy- 
rus and  Egyptian  alphabet  intro- 
duced into,  "484;  final  loss  of  south- 
ern, 512-19;  absorbed  by  Assyria, 
549;  absorbed  bv  Babvl'onia,  583- 
84 

Syrians,  in  Egypt,  449 ;  throne  seized 
by  one  of  the,  474;  gain  high  offi- 
cial position  at  court,  497,  500; 
as  mercenaries,  569,  588 

Syria-Palestine  (see  also  Syria;  see 
also  Palestine),  Middle  Kingdom 
raids  in,  163-64;  Middle  Kingdom 
intercourse  with,  187-88;  earliest 
Egyptians  dwelling  in.  187.  188; 
civilization  of,  188,  259-63;  con- 
ditions  in,   at   beginning   of  Em- 


630 


INDEX 


pire,  257-58;  geography  and  topog- 
raphy of,  258-59;  influence  of 
Egypt  in,  261-62;  influence  of  early 
Babylonia  in,  262 ;  leadership  of 
Kadesh  in,  219-20,  259,  284-85; 
Egyptian  conquest  of,  284-354; 
Amenhotep  1's  possible  campaign 
in,  254,  257,  263,  298;  Thutmose 
I's  campaign  in,  257-64,  298; 
Thutmose  ll's  campaign  in,  270- 
71;  campaigns  of  Thutmose  III  in, 
(see  also  Thutmose  III),  284-316; 
campaign  of  Amenhotep  II  in,  323- 
25 ;  campaign  of  Thutmose  IV  in, 
327-28;  Ikhnaton  loses,  388;  Seti 
I's  wars  in,  409-14;  Ramses  II's 
campaigns  in,  423-41;  Merneptah's 
war  in,  405-66;  Ramses  Ill's  wars 
in,  480-81,  483;  Egyptian  admin- 
istration of,  293,  322-23,  335-36, 
483-84;  fidelity  of  princes  of,  335- 
37  ;  Nineteenth  Dynasty  intercourse 
with,  447;  final  loss  of,  512-19; 
Sheshonk  I's  campaign  in,  529-30; 
absorbed  by  Assyria,  549 ;  Psam- 
tik  I  attempts  recovery  of,  580; 
Necho's  conquest  of,  582-83;  Baby- 
lonian conquest  of,  583-84;  Apries' 
campaigns  in,  586-87 ;  Amasis'  de- 
signs on,  592-93 

T. 

Ta,  498 

Taanach,  288,  530 
Tabor,  436 

Tactics,  military.  234;  in  battle  of 

Megiddo,  288-90 
Tadukhipa,  333 

Taharka,  in  command  at  Altaqu 
before  accession,  552;  rise  of,  554; 
buildings  of,  554-55,  558;  repulses 
Esarhaddon,  555;  defeated  by  Esar- 
haddon,  555;  plots  with  Delta  dy- 
nasts against  Esarhaddon,  556;  de- 
feated by  Ashurbanipal,  556-57 ; 
controls  fortune  of  Amon,  558; 
makes  Tanutamon  coregent,  558; 
retires  to  Napata,  558;  death  of, 
558 

Takelot  I,  532 

Takelot  II,  533-35;  sends  a  thou- 
sand men  against  Shalmaneser  II, 
534 

Takelot  III,  546 

Takompso,  112,  491 

Tale,  folk,  of  Khufu,  122-23 ;  of  Punt, 
183;  in  Middle  Kingdom,  203-04; 
of  expulsion  of  Hvksos,  215-16,  223- 
24,  453-54;  of  Thutmose  Ill's  gen- 


erals, 311-12;  of  the  princess  of 
Bekhten,  440;  of  Thutiy,  311-12, 
454;  of  the  doomed  prince,  454-55; 
of  the  two  brothers,  455;  in  Greek 
traditions  of  Egypt,  455,  566;  of 
Pedibast,  535-36 
Tangur,  256,  257 

Tanis,  Twelfth  Dynasty  in,  188,  197, 
201;  developed  by  Nineteenth  Dy- 
nasty, 442;  Dynasty  of,  see  Twenty 
First  Dynasty;  Twenty  First  Dy- 
nasty wall  of,  524;  probable  Egyp- 
tian residence  of  Nubian  Dynasty, 
554 ;  under  Assyria,  557 

Tanner,  96 

Tanutamon,  558-60 ;  conquers  Upper 
Egypt,  558 ;  captures  Memphis,  558  ; 
buildings  at  Napata,  558;  compro- 
mises with  the  Delta,  559;  expelled 
by  Assyrians  from  Egypt,  559 

Tapedet,  178 

Tapestrv,  349 

Taxes,  161,  165,  237-38;  lists  for,  211; 
called  labour,  238;  amount  of,  238; 
collection  of,  238,  403-05;  due  from 
officials,  238-39;  corruption  in  col- 
lection of,  403-05 ;  temples  pay  no, 
492;  Amon  gains  partial  control  of 
collection  of,  509 ;  priests  and  sol- 
diers in  Saitic  age  pay  no,  574 

Tefibi,  150-51 

Tefnakhte,  539-46,  565;  submits  to 

Piankhi,  544-45 
Tefnut,  56 ;  parentage  of,  56 
Tehenu,  280,  466,  467,  470,  526 
Tell  el-Amarna,  365,  393;  destruction 

of  tombs  of,  402 
Tell  el-Amarna  Letters,  332-37,  382- 

89 ;  discoverv  of,  393 
Tell  el-Yehudiyeh,  442 
Temeh   (or  Temehu),  in  the  south, 

138 

Temple,  earliest,  35;  first  two  dy- 
nasties, Fig.  27,  45-46;  earliest 
stone,  46;  early  development  of,  61; 
endowment  of,  62,  63,  129,  416,  421, 
445-46;  of  pyramid,  71,  120;  of 
sphinx,  120;  of  Re,  in  Fifth  Dy- 
nasty, 124-26;  built  by  nomarch, 
159,  197;  in  Middle  Kingdom,  171, 
200;  overseer  of  the,  171;  founda- 
tion ceremonies  of,  196;  dedicatory 
inscription  of,  196-97;  lake  of,  197, 
486-87;  mortuary,  71,  120,  197,  198, 
202,  251,  278-79;  property  con- 
trolled by  vizier,  239;  vizier's  con- 
trol of,  243;  wealth  of,  in  Empire, 
247-48,  416,  489-96;  wealth  of.  un- 
der Bubastites,  531-32;  of  Der  el- 
Bahri,  273,  277-78;  in  Empire,  248. 


INDEX 


631 


251,  273,  277-78,  341-46,  416,  489- 
96;  peripteral,  341-42;  Pylon  tem- 
ple, 342-43  ;  violation  of  endowment 
of,  420,  523;  fleet,  421,  485,  492, 
494;  cliff,  451;  name  of,  456;  eco- 
nomic danger  of  disproportionate 
wealth  of,  489-96;  lands,  491-92, 
493;  slaves,  491,  494;  cattle,  491, 
494;  workshops  and  shipyards,  492, 
494;  towns,  492,  494;  "income  in 
gold  and  silver,  457,  494;  income  ex- 
empt from  taxation,  492;  troops, 
63,  509;  theocratic  rule  of,  522-23; 
Amasis  appropriates  wealth  of,  592 

Tentamon,  515 

Tentremu,  543 

Teos,  590 

Teresh,  467 

Teti  II,  134 

Teti-en,  228 

Tewosret,  473 

Textiles,  96,  237 

Thaneni,  312-13 

Tharu,  285,  425;  banishment  to,  404; 
road  to  Palestine  from,  409,  447; 
reception  of  Seti  I  at,  411 
•  Thebes,  170,  240;  first  rise  of,  149- 
52;  second  rise  of,  212.  223-29;  de- 
feat of,  by  Tefibi,  150-51;  war  with 
Heracleopolis,  149-51;  oldest  (Elev- 
enth Dynasty)  building  in,  152; 
nome  of,  160*;  buildings  of  Twelfth 
Dvnasty  at,  196;  under  the  Hvksos, 
215-16,  221,  223-24;  under  Seke- 
nenre,  215-16,  223-24;  residence  of 
southern  vizier,  236,  240,  405;  ju- 
dicial court  of,  241;  quarter  for 
mortuary  industries  at,  251;  build- 
ing of  Ahmose  I  in,  252;  building 
of  Amenhotep  I  at.  254 :  building  of 
Thutmose  I  at,  263-66 ;  buildings  of 
Thutmose  III  at,  294-95,  296-97; 
foreign  life  and  products  in  Thebes, 
307-08;  buildings  of  Amenhotep  II 
in,  326;  buildings  of  Amenhotep  III 
at,  340-46,  347-48;  given  architec- 
tural unity  by  Amenhotep  III,  344- 
46;  Amenhotep  Ill's  quarter  in, 
349-50;  splendour  of,  in  the  Em- 
pire, 339-50;  Aton  temple  in,  361; 
abandoned  by  Ikhnaton,  362-64; 
becomes  royal  residence  again,  392 ; 
Thebes  in  anarchy,  394;  forsaken 
as  royal  residence  by  Nineteenth 
Dynasty,  442;  Ramses  EE's  build- 
ings at,  443 ;  Ramses  Ill's  buildings 
at,  486-487;  decline  of,  510,  511, 
525;  Necropolis  of,  250-52,  Fig. 
131,  Fig.  166,  Fig.  108,  Fig.  109, 
Fig.    110,    278-79,    510-11 ;  '  post- 


Empire  principalitv  of,  511,  522. 
528-29,  532,  533-34,  557,  559,  567; 
return  of  Ramses  XII  to,  511,  520; 
under  the  priests  of  Amon,  522-28, 
529,  531,  532,  533-34,  553;  exempt 
from  taxation,  529;  under  the 
Twenty  Second  Dynasty,  528-29, 
532,  533-34;  buildings  of  Twenty 
Second  Dynasty  at,  530;  under 
Twenty  Third  Dynasty,  535;  build- 
ings of  the  Nubians  in,  553,  555; 
under  the  Assyrians,  556,  557,  559; 
possibly  taken  by  Ashurbanipal, 
557 ;  captured  and  plundered  by  As- 
syrians, 559-60;  destruction  of, 
559-60:  under  Saites,  567,  573 

Thekel,  477,  479,  517;  immigration 
into  Palestine,  512 

Themer,  478 

Theodosius,  390 

Thesh,  36 

Thibet,  351 

Thinis,  37,  44;  nomarch  of,  134,  139; 
nomarch  of,  made  vizier,  139;  no- 
march  of,  surviving  under  Empire, 
228,  305 

Thinites,  overthrow  of,  111 

Thoth,  46,  57,  320;  as  vizier,  57;  de- 
fender of  Horus,  58;  personal  pray- 
er to.  459 

Throw-sticks,  277 

Thure,  256,  257 

Thuthotep,  163,  201 

Thutiv  (architect  of  Hatshepsut), 
272,  274,  281;  fall  of,  283,  295 

Thutiv  (general  of  Thutmose  III), 
305^  312,  322,  323;  tale  of,  312 

Thutmose  I,  parentage  of,  255;  coro- 
nation proclamation  of,  255;  Nu- 
bian campaign  of,  256-57 ;  Asiatic 
campaign.  257-64;  in  Phoenicia 
(?),  298;  buildings  of,  264-65; 
obelisks  of,  266;  jubilee  of,  266; 
successors  of,  266-68;  children  of, 

266-  67;  deposition  of,  267-68;  re- 
turn to  power,  270;  death  of,  271; 
acknowledgment  of  Hatshepsut's 
succession  by,  273;  tomb  of,  278-79 

Thutmose  II,  parentage  of,  267; 
reign  of,  267,  269-71;  Nubian  war 
of,  270;  Asiatic  war  of,  270-71;  co- 
regency  with  Thutmose  I,  270,  271; 
coregency  with  Thutmose  III,  271; 
death  of,  271 

Thutmose  III,  219-20.  254,  267,  405; 
parentage  of,  267 ;  early  career  of, 

267-  68 ;  overthrower  of  Hyksos, 
219-20;  accession,  267-69;  reign  of, 
267-70,  271-321;  Nubian  buildings 
of,  269;  deposition  of,  270;  return 


632 


INDEX 


to  power,  271 ;  Asiatic  wars  of,  284- 
317;  first  campaign,  284-94;  sec- 
ond campaign,  295-96;  third  cam- 
paign, 297;  fourth  campaign,  297; 
fifth  campaign,  298-99;  sixth  cam- 
paign, 299-301 ;  seventh  campaign, 
301-02;  eighth  campaign,  302-05; 
ninth  campaign,  313;  tenth  cam- 
paign, 314;  eleventh  campaign,  315; 
twelfth  campaign,  315;  thirteenth 
campaign,  315;  fourteenth  cam- 
paign, 315  ;  fifteenth  campaign,  315; 
sixteenth  campaign,  315;  seven- 
teenth campaign,  315-16;  remem- 
brance of,  in  Syria,  383;  strategy 
of,  297-98;  fleet  of,  298;  hunts 
Syrian  elephant,  304;  in  possession 
of  the  oases,  305;  obelisks  of,  306, 
329;  jubilees  of,  306;  monuments  in 
Thebes,  294-95,  296-97,  306;  vic- 
torious records  in  Thebes,  306-07 ; 
lists  of,  306-07 ;  annals  of,  306-07 ; 
triumphs  in  Thebes,  307-08;  oc- 
cupations at  home,  309-10;  build- 
ings of,  294-95,  296-97,  306,  309, 
310;  designs  temple  vessels,  310;  or- 
ganization of  campaigns  of,  310-11 ; 
generals  of,  311-12,  454;  annals  of, 
312-13;  Nubian  campaigns  and 
buildings,  317-18;  death  of,  318; 
hymn  of  victory,  318-19;  character- 
ization of,  319-20 

Thutmose  IV,  and  Sphinx  Stela,  120, 
327 ;  tale  of  accession,  327 ;  Asiatic 
war  of,  327-28;  obelisk  of  Thut- 
mose III  erected  by,  329 

Thutmosids,  feud  of,  266-82 

Tiglath-pileser  I,  518 

Tiglath-pileser  III,  536,  549 

Tigro-Euphrates  valley,  3 

Tikhsi,  314,  324,  325 

Timaios,  216 

Timsah,  Lake,  447 

Tishub,  334 

Titles,  loss  of  significance  of,  134 
Tiy  (Queen),  329-30,  355,  366,  379; 

worship  of,  in  Nubia,  351 
Tiy  (nurse  of  Ikhnaton),  394 
Tiy  (queen  of  Ramses  III),  498-500 
Tomb    (see  also   Pyramid,  Burial), 
earliest,  34-35;  early  dynastic,  40- 
42;  endowment  of,  41,  70,  71,  527; 
in  Old  Kingdom,  57,  Fig.  33,  116, 
117-19;  equipment  of,  63,  67,  69, 
176,  Fig.  81,  251-52;  immense  size 
of,  68,  568;  chapel  of,  69  (see  also 
Temple),  571;  royal  assistance  in 
building  and  endowment  of,  71,  369- 
70;  of  common  people,  73;  develop- 
ment of,  113;  location  in  Sixth  Dy- 


nasty, 132;  in  Middle  Kingdom, 
197-200;  cliff-,  198,  250-52,  Fig. 
131,  Fig.  166,  Fig.  108,  Fig.  109, 
Fig.  110,  278-79;  robbery,  212-13, 
327,  510-11,  525-26;  in  Empire, 
250-52,  278-79;  of  middle  class, 
251;  of  poor,  251-52;  origin  of 
royal  cliff-,  278-79,  Fig.  109,  Fig. 
110;  of  Tell  el-Amarna,  369-71;  of 
Pediamenemopet,  568 

Tombos,  fortress  of  Thutmose  I  on, 
257 ;  stela,  257 

Tomeri,  470 

Tosorthros,  113 

Towns,  earliest,  31;  in  first  two  dy- 
nasties, 44;  in  Old  Kingdom,  86, 
87 ;  in  Middle  Kingdom,  87 ;  held  by 
royal  princes,  75;  rulers  of,  237; 
held  by  temples,  492,  494 

Treasurer,  chief,  in  Old  Kingdom,  80; 
of  the  God,  80,  119,  128,  133,  164, 
191;  chief,  in  Middle  Kingdom,  153, 
164,  185,  188;  in  nome,  158,  160, 
169;  assistant,  201;  chief,  in  Em- 
pire, 235-36;  238,  243,  272,  276, 
277,  325,  328,  362 

Treasury,  190;  in  first  and  second 
dynasties,  42;  in  Old  Kingdom,  80, 
132;  centralization  of  local  admin- 
istration in,  80;  in  Middle  King- 
dom, 162-64;  boats,  164;  in  Em- 
pire, 236,  237-39,  272,  352,  403-04; 
gold  and  silver,  272,  317;  corrup- 
tion in  the,  403-04 

Treaty,  between  Egypt  and  Hittites, 
437-39 

Trees,  of  Egypt,  95;  planted  by  Ram- 
ses III,  486 
Triads,  divine,  56 

Tribute,  277,  307-08,  315,  328,  331, 
389,  530;  under  charge  of  vizier, 
239,  307-08;  Syrian,  264,  484; 
Thutmose  IPs  record  of,  271;  of 
Libya,  280;  state  reception  of,  307- 
08,  450;  amount  of,  308,  Asiatic, 
323,  336,  389,  530 

Tripolis,  in  Lebanon,  taken  by  Thut- 
mose III,  293;  presented  to  Amon, 
294 

"Triumphant,"  174 

Troglodytes,  of  Sinai,  48;  northern, 

178;  of  Nubia,  253 
Troia,  252;  quarries  at,  93 
Troops,  of  temple,  63 
"  True  of  Speech,"  174 
Truth,  173;  symbol  of,  173;  recognized 

by  Ikhnaton,  377-78 
Tunip,  298,  302,  315,  317,  427;  Mitan- 

nian  influence  in,  263 ;  during  Hit- 

tite  invasion,  382,  385;  begs  Ikhna- 


INDEX 


633 


ton   for   assistance,    382-83;  tem- 
porarily held  by  Ramses  II,  436 
Tuphium,  160 

Turin,  royal  papyrus  of,  211,  213,  221 
"  Turn-face,"  65 

Tutenkhamon,  392,  393;  changes  his 
name,  393-94;  relations  with  Asia, 
394 

Tutenkhaton,     or  Tutenkhamon, 

q.  v. 
Tutu,  385 
Tuya,  418 

Tyre,  260,  411;  special  privileges  of, 
298;  during  Hittite  invasion,  383; 
in  Assyrian  period,  551,  555;  in 
Saite  period,  586,  587,  588;  monu- 
ments of  Necho  in,  587 ;  sustains 
thirteen  years'  siege  against  Nebu- 
chadrezzar, 587-88 

Tyrsenians,  467 

U. 

Ubi,  352,  353 

Ugarit,  382 ;  as  ally  of  Hittites,  424 
Ullaza,  302,  411 
Uneshek.  331 

Uni,  career  of,  134,  135,  136 

Unis,  131;  in  Nubia,  128;  pyramid 

of,  130 
Uraeus,  38 
Uronarti,  186 

Usephais,  tomb  of,  42,  47;  Sinai  ex- 
pedition of,  48;  ivory  tablet  of,  48 
(Fig.  26)  ;  expedition  to  northern 
Nubia,  49 

Userhet,  490 

Userkaf,  126;  birth  of,  123;  reign 
of,  127 

Usermare-Meriamon,  478;  town  of, 
482 

Usermare-Setepnere,  same  as  Ram- 
ses II,  q.  v. 
Ushebti,  249,  Fig.  106 
Utentyew,  319 

V. 

Vallev  of  the  Kings'  Tombs,  250-51, 

278-79 
Vegetable  culture,  92 
Vessels,  of  stone,  28,  39 
Vienna,  Demotic  papyrus  of,  535 
Vineyards,  92 

Vizier,  57,  154,  162,  164,  166,  182, 
191,  221,  248,  429,  458,  498;  tomb 
of,  68 ;  functions  of,  in  Old  King- 
dom, 82-83 ;  power  and  popularity 
of,  83,  244;  son  of  Khufu,  119;  no 
longer  son  of  king,  126;  hereditary 
succession  as,  126;  becomes  gov- 
ernor of  royal  residence,  133;  be- 


coming chief  treasurer,  166;  bring- 
ing back  gold,  182;  appointment  of 
two,  236 ;  chief  treasurer  under 
authority  of,  238;  functions  of,  in 
Empire,  238-45;  as  finance  minis- 
ter, 239 ;  universal  power  of,  243- 
44;  appointment  of,  244;  royal  in- 
structions to,  244-45;  as  High 
Priest  of  Amon,  272,  362 ;  in  charge 
of  foreign  tribute,  239,  307-08,  328 ; 
Harmhab's  selection  of,  405;  revolt 
of  Ramses  Ill's,  497-98 

Votress,  Divine,  see  Consort  Divine 

Vulcan,  566 

Vulture  (as  goddess),  38 
W. 

Wadi  Alaki,   181;    Seti  I  in,  416; 

Ramses  II  in,  421-22 
Wadi  Foakhir,  94 
Wadi  Gasus,  183 

Wadi  Haifa,  181,  255,  317,  408;  ear- 
liest record  at,  181;  fortress  at,  186 

Wadi  Hammamat,  earliest  expedition 
to,  128 

Wadi  Maghara,  48,  Pepi  I  in,  133- 
34;  Hatshepsut  in,  282 

Wadi  Tumilat,  178,  442;  canal 
through,  276,  442,  485-86;  fortress 
in,  447 

Wahibrenofer,  588 

Wan,  height  of,  302 

War,  in  Old  Kingdom,  135;  in  Middle 
Kingdom,  168;  minister  of,  243; 
in  Empire,  see  Tactics,  Strategy 

Water  of  Re,  the,  481 

Wawat,  256;  location  of,  136;  expe- 
dition to,  139,  141,  152,  178;  for- 
tresses in,  183;  government  of,  256; 
gold  of,  317 

Wealth,  agriculture  chief  source  of, 
9 ;  general  sources  of,  92-98 

Weapons,  Svrian  manufacture  of,  260, 
303 

Weaver,  96 

Wenamon,  report  of,  513-18 
Wermer,  478 
Weshesh,  477,  479 
Westcar,  Papvrus,  122-23,  203 
Wheat,  92 

White,  as  colour  of  southern  king- 
dom, 33,  37 

White  House,  33,  42,  44,  164;  regis- 
ters in,  237 ;  sub-departments  in, 
237—38 

White  Wall,  37,  44,  111,  132 

Wife,  226;  position  of,  85 

Wills,  in  Old  Kingdom,  82;  in  Em- 
pire, 237,  240;  under  priests  of 
Amon,  523 


634 


INDEX 


Wine,  237 

Wisdom,  see  Literature  of  Instruction 

Witness,  false,  173 
Woman,  position  of,  85 
Wood,  industries  in,  95 
Wool,  Syrian  industry  in,  260 
Word,  see  Logos 

World,  of  Egyptian  people,  11,  56; 
of  the  dead,  64-65;  conquest  modi- 
fying idea  of,  358-59 

Writing,  earliest,  35,  43  (Fig.  27); 
in  first  two  dynasties,  45;  spread 
to  Phoenicia  and  Europe,  97,  484; 
methods  of,  taught  in  school,  99- 
100;  influence  of  introduction  of, 
99;  orthography  of,  203;  Nubian, 
561 ;  archaic  character  of  Saitic, 
570;  Demotic,  574 

X. 

Xois,  214 

Y. 

Yam,  137;  location  of,  137;  expedi- 
tions to,  138-39,  139 


Yaru,  field  of,  64,  174,  249 

Year,  see  Calendar 

Yehem,  286,  287,  288 

Yenoam,   293,   410;    revolts  against 

Merneptah,  465;  captured  by  Mer- 

neptah,  470 
Yeraza,  284,  530 

Yewepet  (rival  of  Pedibast),  535,  543 
Yewepet  (son  of  Sheshonk  I),  531 
Yufni,  211 

Z. 

Zahi,  290,  313,  318;  Ahmose  I  in,  227; 

in  revolt  against  Thutmose  III,  285 
Zakar-Baal,  513-17 
Zau,  139 

Zawiyet  el-Metln,  132 

Zedekiah,  586,  587 

Zefti,  286  (map),  287 

Zee,  tomb  of,  49,  172 ;  jewelry  of  queen 

of,  50 
Zimrida,  383 

Zoser,  parentage  of,   111,  reign  of. 
112-14;  tomb  of,  113-14 


Index  to  Old  Testament  Passages. 


Gen.  47:  19-20,  229;  47:  23-27,  238; 

47:  21,  246 
Josh.  19:  6,  227 
II  Sam.  10:  10,  188 

I  Kings  9:  15-17,529;  I  Kings  9:  16, 
529;  I  Kings  14:  25.  530;  I  Kings 
15:  23,  291;  I  Kings  17:  4,  549 

II  Kings  18:  21,  553;  II  Kings  19:  9, 
552 ;  II  Kings  24 :  7,  584 ;  II  Kings 
24:  15,  586  ' 


Psalm,  104,  371-74 

Isaiah  19,  548;  Isaiah  20,  551 

Jer.  43:  8-13,593;  Jer.  46 :  1-12,584; 

Jer.  47:  4,  512;  Jer.  47:  1  and  5; 

582 

Ezek.  30:  13,  595;  Ezek.  40:  10-18 
593 

Amos  9:  7,  512 

Nahum  3 :  8-10,  559-60 ;  Nahum  2-4 
582 


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